Cyberhomes was approached by its client to design and install a dedicated cinema/gaming room as part of a refurbishment to its client’s detached, eight-year-old home in Essendon, Hertfordshire. This ‘gamer’s paradise’ was briefed to be a comfortable environment. Cyberhomes made the decision to incorporate a large, soft seating area, rather than formal cinema room seats for maximum comfort. The client also wanted to ensure the room was as future-proof as possible, which meant embracing the very latest technology, in terms of both audio and visual capability.
Texture, materials and colour were all important to Cyberhomes’ client. Lighting was also equally important; it needed to complement the room, whilst providing control of the natural daylight emitting from the windows to allow the correct viewing conditions, regardless of whether the room was being used day or night.
The lighting control used for the client’s cinema/gaming room is a Lutron Homeworks system. The house already had a Lutron lighting control system, so Cyberhomes was able to easily add extra lighting circuits and blind controls. Cyberhomes also installed a new Control4 control system that allows the tap of a single button to automatically control the lighting, projector and screen; rather than having to control each item separately.
The key to the room’s success is Cyberhomes’ framework, which creates a 100mm space between the walls/ceiling and the frame. This allowed Cyberhomes to install all equipment within the framework, along with the various types of acoustic panels necessary to control the absorption and reflection of the sound. Importantly, Cyberhomes was then able to use an acoustically-transparent fabric which is stretched over the framework, so none of the equipment or the acoustic treatments can be seen. Motorised blackout blinds were also installed on the windows which automatically close when the room is in use.
The requirement for the fabrics to be acoustically-transparent was an overriding factor, but this still provided the client with a reasonable choice of fabrics and colours. Samples were provided of several recommended options and a suede-effect was the client’s preference. An added benefit is that the suede-effect fabric generates hardly any reflections of the light from the screen, avoiding the unwanted distractions that other wallcoverings can suffer from.
New wall lights and a ‘shadow gap’ lighting feature in the ceiling allowed Cyberhomes to create just the right amount of bias lighting when watching a movie or playing a game. Clever programming also ensures that if, for example, the client pauses a movie, the lights gently fade up to allow them to grab a drink or take a break and then fade back down again automatically when they press play.
Cyberhomes was fortunate that the home had a dedicated ventilated plant room, so was able to locate all of the system equipment – Blu-ray players, amplifiers, etc – outside of the room, so there were no concerns about the noise – and heat – being generated by the equipment.
The sound system is Dolby Atmos 7.2.4, which means that there are three speakers at the front of the room (left, centre and right), four surround speakers to the sides and rear of the room, two subwoofers and four speakers in the ceiling that add a genuine height effect to the sound. Increasingly, films are being released with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and it is starting to be common for the latest games to support this format – so, rain effects or gunfire all around you can sound incredibly realistic and immerse you in the suspended reality of the game.
Whilst not many game consoles or games support it yet, the projector is capable of 4K ultra HD (four times the resolution of a normal HD TV picture) and will also support high dynamic range. Again, these features are just starting to become available in films (such as 4K streaming from Netflix and Amazon, and the new Ultra HD Blu-ray format) and the next generation of gaming consoles will support it too. Cyberhomes created a discreet connection point below the screen so the homeowner can easily plug in the next generation of gaming consoles as they become available.
To ensure the screen is always the perfect size for either a movie or game, motorised masking was installed. This allows black panels to move in and out at the left and right of the screen so the visible area is always the perfect size. The screen is also acoustically transparent, which allows for the front speakers and the subwoofers to be located in the perfect position behind the screen where they are completely out of sight.
Cyberhomes has seen an increase in the number of high-end homes that are specifying a dedicated home cinema room. In recent years, this seems to have replaced the swimming pool as the ‘must-have’ luxury feature. It seems that we are at the point where the generation that grew up with gaming as a main part of their childhood leisure experience are now at the point in their lives where they can afford these types of luxury installations; and playing games is just as important to them as watching movies or major sporting events.
Interior designers and architects are increasingly being asked by their clients to include the latest technologies in their projects, yet they don’t want the equipment to spoil the aesthetics of the spaces they create. Cyberhomes is increasingly working closely with specifiers to enable all the latest technology to be incorporated whilst minimising what can be seen.