This very stylish home cinema expertly executed by Perfect Integration is just one of the cinemas in the running for our Smart Building Awards this year. The Perfect Integration team gives EI the tour.
Perfect Integration was introduced to the project after a third-party consultant and the architect had started on a design and the client wasn’t convinced with the progress. The clients were building their ‘forever home’ and wanted a sophisticated, elegant, and timeless design for their Cinema.
To aid in forming the initial brief for the project, the team guided the client through an outline presentation with some initial concepts and mood boards for inspiration.
Focussing on a warmer colour palette, the design utilised deep navy and blue materials alongside an American black walnut. These base colours were included to create a refined and contemporary feel, whilst the brass grills, nail heads, wall lights, keypad and handle details hinted a more classical styling.
A subtle grey piping was used on the seats and the ceiling used a mid-grey fabric (to hide the acoustic-treatments and speakers) and a matt grey bulkhead, to eliminate screen reflections and reduce contrast lost during brighter scenes.
With the interior design underway, Perfect Integration arranged to take the client to ISE for a day, as this had been done with great success before and the team knew how valuable back to back demos could be. The clients spent a busy, but enjoyable day demoing everything and came away with decisions made on speakers, projector and seats.
Challenges
The legacy design incorporated a single large AC unit in the middle of the space, losing over 500mm in ceiling height and seriously impacting on the layout and look and feel of the room. The M&E consultant said there was no better way to manage the space, so we took the initiative and redesigned the system, proposing two smaller, shallow AC units mounted on one side and ducted up into new custom made coffers, improving the aesthetic and providing a very even distribution of air. This was very well received by the client and architect and has worked brilliantly and is an excellent example of an installer taking the lead and delivering a no compromise end-result.
The coffered ceiling design also coordinated with the wall columns, resulting in a perfectly proportioned room, with consistent, aligned features; the front columns line up with the sides of the coffers and the side columns line up with the front and back of each coffer.
The installation team also took the lead on the lighting design with bold feature lights on the walls, providing a focal point and enhancing the luxury feel, narrow beam, custom-finish mini spots were used to highlight the brass mesh in the columns and individually controllable LED lighting of the coffers and screen halo, add a little bit of theatre as they switch on in a timed sequence when the room is first switched on from darkness.
The equipment
The audio system comprises of 11 JBL Synthesis SCL-2 speakers (LCR, front wide, two pairs of side surrounds and one pair of rear surrounds), six SCL-4 ATMOS channels and four B&W CT-SW15 subwoofers, all hidden from view completely.
The Barco Loki Cinemascope projector is installed vertically, firing at a DT Screens mirror through a porthole in the joinery. It’s installed in a sealed, acoustic enclosure within the build-up of the rear wall, with forced ventilation which extracts into the MVHR systems. This gave almost complete acoustic isolation with no aesthetic impact on the room.
The room is controlled by Crestron, with Lutron lighting and 20 channel audio processing by StormAudio, linked to three Storm Ultra Elite Amps and four Bowers & Wilkins 1000w Sub-Amps, with 4K sources from Kaleidescape, Apple TV, Sky and a Blu-Ray Player.
Arguably the biggest challenge was the programme, as the client had to move back into the main house before it was finished and was insistent that the cinema was ready to use. As Perfect Integration had brought in its joinery company, the team had almost complete control over the delivery of the room and it was the only room in the entire scheme fully finished when the family moved back in. The result? An extremely happy client!
The result
The end result is nothing short of jaw dropping reports Perfect Integration, and has far exceeded the client’s expectations, not only in terms of the audio-visual performance (which is suitably mind-blowing), but also in terms of the overall look and feel of the room.
The customer is particularly pleased that the company was not prepared to let sloppy M&E design compromise on the room and took responsibility on redesigning the HVAC system. The clients have a young family, so not only wanted to be able to use the room themselves at night without waking up the kids, (so acoustic isolation was critical), but wanted the kids themselves to be able to use the room and enjoy it.
As it is a large house and they were concerned they wouldn’t hear the kids if they woke up when they’re watching a movie, a ‘call mum and dad’ button is on the 1st floor landing Crestron panel, which pauses the movie and softly raises the lights so the parents can talk to the kids through Crestron touchscreen intercom and check they’re OK.
As you enter the home cinema and the heavy, acoustic door closes with a satisfying thud, the first sensation is one of complete calm. It is a very quiet room, and the warm colour scheme and gentle lighting enhance the sensation. The fact that it gets used a lot, and usually has popcorn all over the seats and floor when the Perfect Integration visit, underlines how much the whole family love the space.
Essential Home Cinema Kit List
11 x JBL Synthesis SCL-2 speakers (LCR, front wide, two pairs of side surrounds and one pair of rear surrounds)
6 x SCL-4 ATMOS channels
4 x B&W CT-SW15 subwoofers
Barco Loki Cinemascope projector
DT Screens
Crestron control
Lutron lighting
StormAudio processor
3 x StormAudio Ultra Elite Amps
4 x Bowers & Wilkins 1000w Sub-Amps
Kaleidescape
Apple TV (4K)
Sky Q (4K)