Zak Vracevic, owner and director of M.E.G.A. AV Installations, gives EI the tour of this award-winning install Joy Division Room which picked up the Best Media Room Level II and Global Media Room gongs at the CEDIA Awards 2024 ceremony.
This case study was first published in December issue of Essential Install Magazine. Have a project you would like featured, get in touch! Email dan@essentialinstall.com
The ‘Joy Division Room’ was the third project for the same client, second in the same block of apartments. Zak explains, “When the client bought a large two floor penthouse with the aim of having more space for entertainment and music, we decided to ‘go all the way’ and make the project special. The main room on the 8th floor was 40% glass windows and doors, but it had very good height which allowed us to install everything above the windows and in the ceiling.
“Even then, it still proved to be a challenge due to the amount of stuff happening on the ceiling. There were sprinklers, sensors, a drop-down lift with a projector, a number of speakers, two large grills for air-conditioning, 22 led strips for the central ceiling feature and sides, as well as 25 downlights!”
Zak continues, “The front of the room was the biggest challenge as that was where the screen and the main LCR speakers were supposed to be, but all we had there was a massive glass wall. We decided to design a large MDF bulkhead and suspend it from the ceiling using unistrut rods, which allow precise height adjustments.”
The bulkhead was divided into three sections and treated with acoustic materials before installing a number of Bowers & Wilkins speakers and sub woofers – three CWM7.3S2 LCR speakers, an ISW8 subwoofer with a back box, plus two additional CTSW12 – 12in subs each side of the box for the client’s Hi-Fi rig.
Zak explains, “At the back of the box, we had 130in Screen Excellence Media Time drop down screen and two pairs of Lutron shades (sheer and black out). Altogether, the bulkhead (which was soon renamed ‘The soundbar’) was approaching 400kg and required full structural study and report.”
ICONIC ALBUM ART
The ceiling idea was initiated by Volume3 architect Ademir, who was inspired by Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album artwork – flip the album cover upside-down and there it is!
Zak reveals, “Upon being presented with this idea, we worked together on choosing materials and deciding how to make the ceiling work best for the room acoustics and all the services built into it. In between the veneered MDF ceiling ribs, we used semi-rigid compressed felt with acoustic properties, helping to dampen any room reverb and excess high frequencies resulting from the amount of glass present in the room.
“We were left with 175mm between the ribs to house the surround and back surround speakers, as well as the speakers for the library at the back of the room. By pure luck, the Bowers & Wilkins CWM7.4S2.5 speaker was exactly 175mm wide and was thus chosen for this task.”
It was not all plain sailing as the team had to make (cut) the B&W metal back boxes smaller and use black spray for the white trim around the speakers as they were to be installed without grills and needed to be all black.
The ceiling was intended to act as a large diffuser to break and scatter soundwaves and direct parts of it to absorbing surfaces between the ribs.
Zak explains, “For low end control, we first addressed all the room corners behind the ceiling, positioning a number of high-density foam blocks there. These blocks have the same density as the Rockwool ones but are easier to handle and cut, especially in a residential environment. The space above the ‘soundbar’ was also filled with the same blocks, while the space between the back of the soundbar and glass was filled with a different material, spaced apart to allow for some air gaps which also help in controlling low end. The back library wall was another old trick, acting as a diffuser and absorber with all the books and records.”
For projection duties, the project went with the Sony VPL-XW7000 native 4K laser projector mounted inside Future Automation projector lift. Everything was colour co-ordinated down to the white projector and white lift mechanism to work with the pale ceiling ribs.
Zak was pleased with the Sony’s performance, “Sony’s calibrated presets were impressive out of the box and all we had to do was apply a detailed panel shift alignment process. The presets were then ported to the Control4 remote and screens for the client to choose depending on what they wanted to watch. Video sources include 4K Apple TV, Sky Stream box and a Blu-ray player.”
The room’s audio was taken care of by Maratnz AV-10 and AMP-10 combo. The final configuration was 7.2 with both the surround and back surround speakers positioned on the ceiling with one sub in front and one 15in sub at the back of the room. As there were no major room peaks or dips, Audyssey room correction from Marantz AV10 was sufficient for minor tweaks. The sub woofers were powered by Bowers & Wilkins CDA-2HD network power amps, which allow setup and DSP (not used here) via network / laptop.
The client’s high end Hi-Fi rig can play vinyl and in addition can access music from the networked ZEN Mini music server via a high-end Weiss DA convertor. Audio can also be played through the cinema sound system using Marantz’s feature to utilise sub woofers for music too. Zak says the jury is still out on what sounds better side by side! The system control is taken care of by the Control4 Core5 processor and Halo Touch remote control.
LIGHTING IT UP!
Lighting was a big and important part of this project. Zak comments, “We decided to go with the Lutron Homeworks and Palladiom keypads with the majority of the light using DALI protocol. A full light study and 3D simulation was produced before the lighting design was completed. As the apartment was facing sunlight from the moment the sun goes up all the way until sundown, we needed to fully understand the effect of the light and how it would affect the visuals during the sunny days.
“After testing few options, we made custom side channels for the blackout blinds so when they go down even on the brightest day, no light would be coming through and affecting the picture. The blinds were assigned in pairs to each of the three glass walls, and also grouped into ‘all down / all up’.”
The client can now choose between an all-dark room during sunny days or have only the back wall blackout blinds (behind the screen) down on a cloudy afternoon or evening, having a perfect image on the screen and still being able to enjoy the magnificent city views. During the day, the sheer blinds proved to be indispensable for managing sunlight. The rest of the apartment is fitted with various B&W speakers (all with back boxes), Triad One music streamers and Control4 touch screens in every room.
The kitchen and master suite are each fitted with four B&W ceiling speakers with a square plaster kit for a minimalist architectural look. The kitchen is also equipped with its own Triad One music streamer and a 55in smart TV mounted in the bespoke TV wall using a Future Automation articulated bracket.
Zak reports, “After the handover, the cinema room was used almost immediately and the client was very satisfied with its performance, especially the sound. The high end Hi-Fi is also performing and sounding much better than in the old apartment, earning comments for ‘fuller sound and more dynamics’. The client was also impressed with the ceiling speakers in the rest of the space, saying that now he can hear more detail than with the previous speakers.
Zak says, “We are still doing minor tweaks and adjustments as the clients are settling in, mainly with the light settings and scenes. The best part is that because the whole system is online, we can remotely change light settings, remove or add new scenes and do just about anything on the system without setting a foot inside. Technology to the people!”
Essential Kit List
• Sony VPL-XW7000 Native 4K Laser Projector
• Future Automation PD3.5 Projector Lift
• Screen Excellence Media Time 130in projection Screen
• Marantz AV-10 AV processor
• Marantz AMP-10 multichannel power amplifier
• Bowers & Wilkins CWM7.3S2 LCR speakers x 3
• Bowers & Wilkins CWM7.4S2 speakers x 6
• Bowers & Wilkins ISW8 In-wall Subwoofer
• Bowers & Wilkins CTSW15 in-wall 15in Subwoofer
• Bowers & Wilkins CDA-2HD DSP Power Amplifier x 3
• Apple TV 4K
• Sky Stream
• Sony Blu-ray Player
• Innuos Zen Mini 1TB Music server
• Cisco 48 Port Network switch
• Cisco 24 Port PoE Network Switch
• Control4 Core 5 Processor
• Control4 Halo Touch Remote
• Control4 8in Touch Screen
• Lutron Homeworks Lighting & Motorised Shading
• Van-Damme speaker cable