About the project
At a family home in Buckinghamshire, we built a soundproof cinema room that provided a truly cinematic experience. To complete the space, we also installed state-of-the-art lighting and automated blinds. This project truly brought the magic of the big screen to Little Chalfont.
The Brief
Our client told us they were looking to create a “truly cinematic experience” in the comfort of their own home. After visiting the showroom and listening to the Sonance Reference Room, they immediately knew they wanted to recreate a similar experience in a spare room at their property.
For us, the main challenge of the build was the location of the cinema room. This is because the room sat on the second floor, directly above the children’s bedrooms. As a result, soundproofing was a major consideration. This is because we needed to ensure that the parents could spend evenings watching their favourite films without fear of waking up the children.
In addition, we also needed to capture the feeling of a high-end and luxurious cinema. So with this, we decided to replace the decade-old lighting system that was in situ and add automated blinds.
The Build
This was a bespoke and high-end build, with the client looking to achieve the highest possible level of finish.
To make the sound experience as cinematic as possible, we utilised a 7-2-2 speaker system. This included two subs to the front, three speakers behind the screen, two speakers at the rear, two speakers at the side and two speakers overhead for the Dolby Atmos. All of these were Sonance Reference speakers, which were linked to a three-metre 2.35 acoustically transparent screen.
To enhance the experience, we also replaced the decade-old home lighting control system with a Lutron HomeWorks QSX system. This system is entirely state-of-the-art and is the most recent innovation from one of the very best home automation system providers on the market.
To complete the cinematic experience and ensure total darkness, we fitted the windows and VELUX windows with automated blinds controlled via Lutron.
All of the products we used throughout the build are listed below:
- Sonance
- R1 Reference Speakers: Left, centre and right behind the screen
- Surround Reference Speakers (R1): Rear
- VP80 Speakers: Sides
- VP60R: Dolby Atmos
- R12: Subwoofers
- Arcam
- AVR11: A/V Receiver
- PA410: Power Amplifier
- JVC Projector: Superb N5
- A three-metre 2.35 acoustically transparent screen
- Lutron
- Blinds: Lutron Motor Module LQSE 4M
- VELUX: Lutron QSE-IO-CAR
The results
We completed the build on time and on budget, collaborating seamlessly with a builder and an interior designer in order to create the perfect space.
While showing the finished space to the client, we played the same clip from a James Bond film that they saw in the showroom.
What the client said
“The audiovisual system sounds just like it did in the showroom. We’re extremely pleased and you’ve delivered a room that we can be proud of. This is the perfect room to spend time as a family and the foresight of soundproofing allows us to have grown-up time with a trip to our own cinema.”
