Jordan O'BrienIn a new service from Pulse Cinemas, the company is offering the experience of one of the country’s leading designers and luxury furniture makers, enabling installers to deliver not just great cinemas, but great rooms full stop.
Stephen Clasper is an award-winning designer who for many years has been delivering high-quality interiors and furniture for private clients and developers, using his love of art and design to deliver rooms that exceed expectations.
In a new initiative from Pulse, Stephen’s expertise will be on tap to those Pulse dealers who want to create a complete room for their client from the ground up, which reflects their desires and personality and also delivers the AV experience they want. What is special about this joint initiative is that Stephen does not just have a complete understanding of how to create stunning rooms, but also how to create rooms that are sympathetic to the needs of the AV being integrated – so often a bone of contention for installers keen to get their systems working at peak performance.
Anyone who has visited Pulse’s showroom and witnessed the new media room will already be familiar with Stephen’s work, as he designed the Moroccan themed room which houses the £10K (RRP) and £25K (RRP) systems that until they are activated, remain completely hidden in the plush and comfortable surroundings of the room.
Stephen explains, “This is about building relationships and allowing installers to offer real expertise and inspiration when creating rooms for clients. We can offer a complete design service from top to bottom delivering site surveys, consultation services, full colour renders, mood boards as well as bespoke furniture and cabinet making to help installers impress clients, get better results and win more business.
“What’s more I ‘get’ AV. For 20 years, I have been creating living spaces that are fully sympathetic to the needs of the AV systems; together we can create rooms that deliver on every level.”
Mike Beatty, Pulse Cinemas MD, adds, “Having long experience as not just a designer, but manufacturer of bespoke furniture and cabinetry, as well as a skilled appreciation of AV, makes Stephen’s services pretty unique. How often have you prayed for a designer who understands what you are trying to achieve with the AV in a living space? Well now your prayers have been answered and we are really excited about this new service we can offer. It’s a natural progression for us and we feel it’s going to deliver great results and create more business for everyone.
“Take our media room for example. The TV based system in there is actually only £10K (RRP) for all the AV kit, but it sounds way more than that because of the room; it’s all designed from the ground up to not only look and feel great, but provide the right platform for the AV when it’s called upon.”
Stephen adds, “Having designed and completed many of these types of rooms down the years, I know how good they can be when everything is integrated in the whole design right from the start; it lifts every element of the room so what the customer gets is genuine integration of technology into a luxury living space designed to inspire and surround them with comfort.”
Mike adds, “It’s probably a surprise to many of us in the industry as we are kit heads, but most clients when they visit here with their dealer/installer ask about the carpet, the furniture, the stylish lighting fittings, before they ask about the AV. These are things that excite them and make them want a space like this in their own home; add the AV in and it creates real desire to purchase. We are giving installers the chance to sell to those clients. Dedicated cinemas are a huge part of what we do of course and design can play a huge part in those too. However, not everyone wants that dedicated space, and working with Stephen to create living spaces with AV built into their DNA creates a whole new world and expands our horizons as an industry. Not everyone has a cinema right? But everyone has and wants a beautiful living room, so the possibilities are huge.”
Timely intervention
As luck would have it, whilst EI was at Pulse HQ, sales manager Simon Schino was doing some training and demo work, including a demo of the media room. For those who have not experienced this room yet, it’s definitely recommended as it does completely underline what we have been saying here, that a room designed from the start to support and be sympathetic to the AV clearly gives outstanding results. . The cinema systems in place are relatively modest for our industry price point wise – 10k and 25K respectively for all the AV – are very impressive, particularly the Atmos projector-based system. Today it was rocking a very powerful sequence from Roger Water’s concert/documentary film about iconic album The Wall. What was interesting here was that Stephen clearly enjoyed the footage as much as anyone in the room; a real bonus to work with a designer who is as much a fan as any installer of the experiences that can be created with a topquality AV set up. Talking with Stephen, it’s clear what he can offer installers is not just knowledge, but enthusiasm for what the experiences can deliver.
The mechanics of how all this will work will vary of course from customer to customer, but the basics of having the ability to bring into play Stephen’s knowledge and services right from the off when talking to a client or bringing them to the demo space, looks and feels like a win-win.
Stephen has a great analogy here, saying, “You would not sell a Bentley by just talking about the engine, it’s a whole package, the interior, the design of the instruments, the carpets, the upholstery, everything works in harmony to create an experience that excites the senses and expectations of the clients. Media rooms should be no different, installers can provide the engine to drive the AV experience and rely on us to create a room that completes the project and takes everything to a higher level.”
Stephen’s services are available as from right now as part of Pulse’s desire to help its installers win more business and provide a more complete service, so get into touch to find out more.