4845 Steeds Crossing Circle
Park City KS 67219
316-265-0366 (voice)
tech@apluselectronics.com
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A Plus Electronics 4845 Steeds Crossing Circle Park City KS 67219 316-265-0366 (voice) tech@apluselectronics.com |
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West Side Tuscan Style Theatre Room Construction:
| Here I chronicle a west side theatre room from inception to completion. A dedicated home screening room can and should be more than just a rectangular room with a projector, screen and speakers. The owners, the builder and especially myself, are having a lot of fun on this project. The excitement is contagious. Everyone involved can't wait for this room to be finished. It is scheduled to be finished in November 2002. The homeowner initially contacted me in November of 2001. We had several meetings, one being a demo at the A Plus Electronics showroom. Careful attention was paid to the selections of audio video equipment. The customer was clear that only the top level of performance for this room would be acceptable. An audio video & design proposal was accepted and the customer paid me a design retainer. Several room design discussions took place and the journey began: | |
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Originally the couple indicated an interest in a room with a Greek motif. I always wanted to do a room with an Italian Villa or Tuscan feel and hoped the there were enough Mediterranean elements to a Tuscan design to meet their approval. After a few verbal discussions I was encouraged to go forth a produce a hand drawn "rendering." Once they saw the drawing (A) we discussed some changes to my concept and the couple gave me a thumbs up to continue. I should point out that due to the height of the room the faux-terracotta roof was eliminated. It just would not be possible. The faux shuttered windows will actually be on the back wall and also function as sound diffusers. Exactly where diffusion is needed. There will be wrought iron flower boxes under the faux shuttered windows to lend an even more authentic feel. Once most of the architectural elements in the room had been agreed on, it was time to draw a preliminary floor plan to scale (B), ensuring all would fit without compromising the A/V performance of the room. I had to carefully crunch the numbers, as I wanted symmetry on the columns – but the seating position in relation to the speakers – the room and screen is very, very critical. After tossing around all the considerations of the room, I was able to get all the dimensions to work out. This floor plan was the first draft to confirm the exact locations of everything. The next step was to draw the room to scale in CAD with a detailed floor plan view and elevations of all four walls. All of the columns and arches have hidden rope light to highlight these architectural features. Careful attention was given in designing a hidden crevice for the rope light that would allow for future service. This was harder than it sounds. There are also accommodations for rope light in the screen proscenium and under the lip of the front stage. The CAD elevations revealed that it was not possible for an arch over the screen. There would not be enough ceiling height. Here I opted for a straight header with distressed wood corbels where the header meets the flanking stem walls. The Stewart microperfed Grayhawk screen is a very large 107" wide, 1.78:1 (16:9) with their patented ve-lux black velvet coated frame. Three of Triad's awesome Gold In Wall LCR/10's adorn the front screen wall, one in each stem wall that flanks the screen and stage and the center channel slightly "off center" behind the microperfed screen. The image to the lower right (E) depicts a partial view of the left sidewall elevation. The cabinet doors are for DVD storage but incorrectly show plank style fronts. These will ultimately be distressed shuttered doors to match the shuttered sound diffusers on the back walls (and A/V equipment cabinet on the right side wall). Once again, rope lights will go up the side of each column, across the archway and down the side of the next column, etc. This will be consistent around the entire perimeter of the room and should look spectacular. There will be a mason 2" thick baseboard around most of the room. The CAD drawing incorrectly depicts the baseboard wrapping around the column. Instead, I have opted for the baseboard to stop at each column and pick back up again on the other side of the column. 4 each of Triad's amazing Gold In-Wall Surround dipoles are implemented for the surround fields – 1 on each sidewall and 2 on the back wall. This is a 7.1 room! The subwoofer will be a freestanding MartinLogan Descent and reside somewhere near the back wall (probably appx. ¼ room width in). There will be outdoor-style black oxide (or possibly an oxidized pewter finish) wall sconce lights on all columns (but not the corners). The premise to this room is to give the feel that you are in a Tuscan courtyard, surrounded by the house. |
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Occasional areas of the columns and arches will have a cultured stone brick (which looks and feels like real brick but is only ½" thick) attached and mortared. The remaining area will be a faux-finish plaster, with deep cracks occasionally seen. The look I am trying to achieve is one where the columns and arches were originally made out of brick that, at some point, was plastered over. With time, some of that plaster has fallen or pulled away, giving an old world feel. | |
I have designed a heat exhaust system for the JVC DILA projector, as it will be housed in hush box to eliminate noise and a second heat exhaust system for the audio video equipment cabinet. I also had to pay close attention to the lighting wattage loads and zoning in order to properly integrate with the Lutron GrafikEye that will be controlling the lighting in this room. For all you "nuts & bolts" people, this equipment list should make you drool:
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Here are some pics after the room was framed - no wiring was in place at the time these were taken. | |
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This series of images shows the room after it has been wired and insulated. Sheetrock is ready to go up, but we first need to install the Cultured Stone brick veneer. So I marked those spots on the columns and arches with fluorescent orange paint. You can also see how the center channel speaker bracket is installed directly behind where the micro perfed 107" wide screen will reside. This room will eventually have a drop ceiling. I had to come up with a simple plan on how to mount a 31 lb. Projector without a bunch of expensive hardware. I build hush boxes around my projectors so I needed something meaty to install that to as well. I had the framer build me a simple box out of ox board and then had the HVAC people run an flexible exhaust duct to that box. This box will be sheet rocked and the bottom of the box will be about an inch below the finished grade of the drop ceiling. In fact, the drop ceiling installers will install their angle track directly on the side of this box. As the room nears completion this fall, I will install the projector and hush box and cut a hole in the bottom for the exhaust duct to pull hot air away from the projector. We ran in to a little snag when the masons started installing the brick veneer. Typically masons install a wire mesh and mortar substrate before installing the brick veneer. However, that would have made the entire process about an inch thick. We plan on sheet rocking the rest of the room, butting up to the brick, with the intention that the sheetrock and brick be flush with each other. Unless we wanted to double sheetrock the entire room (to bring the sheetrock out to an inch thick) a change need to be made. We finally settled on installing the brick veneer directly to the ox board with construction adhesive. Once set up, it bonded wonderfully and it was less than 1/8" thick. The room is now ready for sheet rocking and mudding. |
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Here we show the back wall of the room immediately after the room has been faux finished. The back walls are done in a glazed with primarily black and a dingy green. The columns and arches are actually textured AND glazed with a lighter palate of browns and tans. We wanted to have some contrast between the two. Once again we want to impart a very old world feel but also want to keep the room as dark as possible within reason. Keep in mind that all the columns will be getting an outside type of light similar to an old porch light (where you see romex wire sticking out) probably in a black oxide, antique bronze or pewter finish. There will also be rope lights behind the columns and arches to highlight those architectural elements. |
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This depicts the left front of the stage and shows the hole where the Triad Gold LCR speaker will be installed. Its grill will be matched to the faux finish of the column. Directly to the right is the Screen and the screen proscenium. All the area behind and to the side of the screen (currently white) will be painted flat black. |
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This image backs up and depicts most of the front stage. The stage itself will ultimately be black carpeted. The stage kick will be faced with 2" thick x 8" tall x 6" wide stone that will match the faux finish of the columns/arches. This stone will also serve as a mason baseboard around the entire perimeter of the room - but only at the bottom of the darker back walls - not at the bottom of the columns and stem walls. |
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Now we jump to the pictures of the completed room. This depicts the DVD and Hi Def tape storage cabinet in the right rear of the room. This cabinet mirrors the AV equipment cabinet on the other side (left rear) of the room, |
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This image backs up and depicts most of the front stage. The stage itself will ultimately be black carpeted. The stage kick will be faced with 2" thick x 8" tall x 6" wide stone that will match the faux finish of the columns/arches. This stone will also serve as a mason baseboard around the entire perimeter of the room - but only at the bottom of the darker back walls - not at the bottom of the columns and stem walls. |
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These last 2 images capture the essence of the room when you walk in. One can see how the porch lights and stone baseboard lend the feeling of being in a courtyard. The rope lights help accent the columns and arches. The carpet does not call attention to itself (the customer picked that out -good job!) and blends in perfectly with the other colors in the room. |
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All the flat ceiling tiles are absorption tiles and there are 6 pyramidal diffusion tiles in the ceiling. These along with the absorption wall panels on the front side walls (very difficult to detect - which is good!) create a room that is acoustically inert. This is not a "dead " room, it has all the proper elements of absorption and reflection. No echoes whatsoever! It is a fairly large room with a sizeable screen (107" wide - 123" diagonal). Notice the projector in its hush box in the upper right hand corner. And yes, that's yours truly standing off to the right. It's movie time! |
I'd like to give credit to several people who have gone an extra mile in this room: Philip Baumer — Clotia Wood & Metal: All of the second phase of the CAD work drawings (and redrawing) Tim Hurst & David Baker - Trim Carpentry
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© A Plus Electronics, Inc. 2004
4845 Steeds Crossing Circle
Park City, KS 67219 USA
Phone: 316-265-0366
E-Mail: tech@apluselectronics.com