Home Cinema rooms are gathering spaces with one main purpose: watching movies.
Additionally, a Home Cinema can support other media uses such as music, gaming, and broadcast TV.
Whether used as a dedicated space or a multi-purpose space, a properly executed home cinema should be able to faithfully reproduce the picture and sound content, demonstrating minimal compromise within the given budget.
Name of project: A 007 Class Theatre
Value of custom installation contract: Equipment: 80,000€, Labour: 10,000€
Location: PAFOS area, Country: CYPRUS
Date of completion of installation: 18/1/2013
What was the client’s brief
The client requested a High-End Home Theatre to be designed & built from scratch in the relevant lower level area dedicated by the architects, with the largest possible seating capacity. They wanted this room to look and feel like a real movie theatre, but only better in luxury and quality. His passion was James Bond 007 movies and hence they wanted the theme to be around a 007 touch. The room is to be used for watching movies, sports, and live TV with the family, friends and guests on a daily basis. They also wanted a way to store and manage easily their huge collection of movies ranging from 2D DVDs to Blu-Ray & 3D, and, a convenient way of controlling the systems involved. The last words were that he had a brother in another town also a movie enthusiast, and that he wanted his Theatre to be way better that his brothers! In other words he wanted the best result within a reasonable budget … and of course don’t forget Bond, James Bond!
System Description and how our design meets the Client’s requirements
At the start of the project we received an empty shell “concrete box” with a fairly low ceiling and a bit too narrow a room. We had to turn the “ugly duckling into swan”. We had several issues to resolve starting from the most obvious; the seating selection & layout! Then we had to tie this with the maximum screen size required, the projector selection and positioning and all the calculations and designs to ensure the best viewing for all seats. We decided to suggest a stadium seating arrangement with 3 curved steps to elevate the rear viewers because we couldn’t raise the screen more. Designing the seating layout we decided to go for 2 side corridors and keep the 4 luxury Cineak leather seats in the middle of the room for ultimate viewing. Along these design lines we concluded the front “stage” layout to accommodate the screen and loudspeakers. Finally we had to deal with the room acoustics and positioning of loudspeakers and other equipment. Together with the interior & lighting designer we finalised the designs that tied together the engineering, acoustics and good looks of the room, obviously not forgetting about the 007 theme. All parties involved started the construction of the project. Sound absorbers and diffusers were installed behind decorative panelling, fitted carpets with LED step lights, stage construction, acoustic fabric by “Acoustic First” cleverly hides the speakers without blocking the sound clarity, drop ceilings with “star-field” fibre-optic lighting, and finally the catchy James Bond scenes have been transformed into fabricated posters with the image of the star being the owners figures. A few months down the line, the Lifestyle Technology Team was proud to present the one and only “007 Class Theatre”.
This is where the owners’ family and friends enjoy, on a daily basis, their movie collections, sports & live TV shows on a 133” DaLite micro-perforated screen with automatically adjusted masking to suit all picture formats. The JVC “DLA-RS60” reference THX projector produces a crystal clear image in 2D&3D for every movie played back from the10-Terrabyte Mozaex Media, or, the Apple-TV and the SKY-HD receiver.
A “Crestron-Procise” DSP and matching amplifier are driving the 7.2 speaker setup delivering 400 watts of power per channel. Monitor Audio “Platinum Series” Column L/R speakers, the Platinum Centre, 6 bi-polar surrounds, and, 2 active subwoofers fill the room with powerful sounds of the highest quality. All “black box” equipment where installed in a 19” rack located in a “server room” adjacent to the Theatre for easy access.
Star-field lights, step-lights, cove lights, display lights have been setup to dim from a “Lutron Homeworks” system creating the right atmosphere for every occasion. Air Conditioning control is achieved utilising a “Coolmaster” interface for the Daikin VRV system. At this point we shall point out that we coordinated with the HVAC contractors to damp the A/C units even more in order to minimise background noise. Heating was also integrated with a Crestron thermostat hidden away in furniture, and, the use of a remote temperature sensor.
All systems are controlled from a “TPMC-3X” Wi-Fi touch panel remote and/ or an iPad with the Crestron Mobille-G Pro App. At a touch of a button the show starts: lights dim, projection and sound systems turns on, the HVAC turns to the pre-set point, the client selects a movies from the on screen list, the masking automatically adjusts to the size of the picture, everyone puts on their 3D glasses and immerse into the experience.
The result is definitely a “double” wow factor within budget!
This is the client’s verdict on the installation
The client thought he was in a James Bond’s private Cinema. He could not believe how the whole design theme and systems combination came out so well matched! He commented on how well hidden and placed are the equipment, without any visible cables and DVD’s of his huge collection. The interface of the Media Server on the big screen and the iPad was so well organised that he started using it without any training! The image clarity, sound precision, sitting position and user friendliness of the system has made him admit that this is his most valuable entertainment investment and his favourite room of the house. The fact that we utilised existing Lighting Control system and the integration of the HVAC for control along with all AV systems at the VIP seat of his personal Cinema Room has exceeded his expectations. He commented that he was very happy with the Lifestyle Technologies Team because they have worked very professionally and to the standards and budget he expected. We definitely have a very happy customer here that uses the theatre nearly every single day!
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