Home theatre that appeals to adults and children
It started as a storage room and ended up as a home theatre that would satisfy a fanatical movie buff.
The US-based company Starr Systems of Baltimore were assigned the task of making the transformation, which included eliminating bulkheads in the room and creating a ‘larger feel’ in the space.
And given the audience of children and adults, the theatre design had to be flexible enough to appeal across the generations.
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Starr Systems handled every aspect of the project, from electrical contracting to demolition and design, material selection and, of course, all the audio, video and control systems.
Founder and owner of the company Sean Weiner says that it was crucial for audio and video performance to be integrated with the design.
The project, which took 177 hours to complete, was not without its challenges.
“The ceiling was full of plumbing, ductwork and cabling that had to be moved to accommodate the decorative ceiling design,” Sean says.
“The door in what was to become the front of the theatre was in the centre of the wall and had to be moved. Unfortunately, the sump pit was in front of the proper location for the door.
“Hanging the projector in the centre of the ceiling was not possible, and neither was rear projection, so we had to select a projector with a throw lens and design a ventilated enclosure for the adjacent exercise room to conceal the electronics.
“As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the left front speaker and a sconce to the left of the screen were to be installed in a column that would effectively reduce the width of the mechanical room door, making service of the mechanical systems challenging if not impossible.
“We designed the column to be removable to provide access as necessary. A custom latching system was designed to open and close the hidden door to the mechanical room.”
Sean says the room design selected by the client presented another challenge because it limited speaker placement options.
“Strategic placement of absorptive, reflective and diffusive materials allowed us to manipulate the room to improve the audio system’s performance.”
This was crucial to ensuring the success of the room’s acoustics, Sean says.
“The room has two forced air supply ducts in the ceiling that are wrapped with insulating material to reduce noise.
“The wall shared with the mechanical room is double framed and insulated to cut down on noise from the mechanical systems.
“Even the door has additional absorptive acoustical material applied to lower the ambient noise.
Sean says that, surprisingly, one of the most difficult parts of the project was the installation of the projector.
“A custom projector mount was fabricated to bring the lens into the centre of the opening built into the rear arched panel.
“The projector enclosure incorporates a custom ventilation system to circulate air around the projector.”
All the hard work paid off in the end, as the installation won the 2007 CEDIA US award for best home theatre in the US$120,000 to $143,000 category.
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