We were asked to provide a solution for the home cinema screen in our client’s beautiful Listed home. A rising screen fitted the bill perfectly, making movie nights feel incredibly special.
Our client has an amazing Grade I Listed home in the Surrey Hills, which is his base when in the UK. He and his wife enjoy watching movies and they wanted to add a home cinema to their home. With the constraints that come with the Listed status, we knew that we would need to be very careful to provide a solution that would respect the heritage of the building, whilst still delivering an authentic cinematic experience for our client.
In this post, we focus on the visual elements of this unique project.
Our Client’s Criteria for the Home Cinema Screen
The video image is of particular importance to our client; he loves a bright image, with plenty of contrast and definition. He was certain that the image should be as large and bright as possible. He wanted a no-compromise approach to the video element of the project, and he was excited to see what we would do.
His other requirements were for high-fidelity sound and control of the natural and artificial light. He also asked us to provide local sources (such as BluRay and Sky HD) and sources delivered by the video distribution system (Kaleidescape). For comfort and convenience, our client also wanted us to connect the cinema room to the house-wide HVAC system.
The Room
The room allocated for the project was a large and imposing library. With traditional bookcases, high ceilings and lots of natural light, there were challenges to overcome. Possibly the biggest of these was how and where to locate the home cinema screen.
Since the ceilings were so high and due to the constraints of the Listed status of the building, the client was not inclined to have the screen located in the ceiling. He preferred it to be lower and therefore feel more intimate. In this instance, we felt that a floor-mounted rising screen would provide the perfect solution.
This would provide the intimate and comfortable feel that the client desired, an acceptable viewing angle and distance, and the luxury wow factor that was important.
A Rising Home Cinema Screen
When considering the scale of the room, having a screen drop from the ceiling would have looked odd. In addition, the Listed status of the building meant that the ceilings had to be preserved intact. We decided that the better solution was for the screen to rise from the floor. Consequently, we housed the screen and mechanism within the floor void, and, at the press of a (Crestron) button, the screen rises into view. The rising mechanism was specially designed and manufactured for this project.
With the necessary protections and safety features, the screen is contained within the floor void when not in use. When it is needed, with a trigger from the projector, the screen motors horizontally upwards from its housing on the floor and rises to a height of over 4m.
After the film has finished and the screen is no longer needed, it motors back into the sub-floor housing, leaving nothing but a discreet carpeted flap covering it. This home cinema screen has been designed correctly, to ensure that it is safe to walk on and does not become a trip hazard.
Finally, to produce the bright image that the client desired, we also provided a Barco 4K UHD projector. This has a dual laser engine which delivers up to 12,000 ANSI lumens output.
In Conclusion
Our rising home cinema screen provides an excellent solution for this tricky room. The result has been an intimate, high-performance room, where our clients can enjoy watching movies and entertaining guests. We have given due respect to the heritage of the Listed building and have provided a bespoke solution which is out of sight until needed. The home cinema screen rising out of the floor gives a sense of occasion and an air of luxury to the cinema room.
Further Reading
For further reading, here is an article about selecting your home cinema installer and here is an example of a design for a luxury screening room. For something a little different, how about a technical article about home cinema bass?
If you would like your own home cinema screen, please do get in touch.