The available space for a home cinema is a perennial point of discussion, and rightly so. Not all of us are blessed with a large room in our homes which can be readily converted or are embarking on a new build project which can make provision for a dedicated home cinema suite.
But it does still surprise clients when they discover that the home cinema experience is something they can incorporate into very modest spaces, as a recent project near Stockport is testament to.
To cut to the chase, the space of the room was just 3m wide by 4.5m in length which, we can all agree, is quite compact. It is also in the attic space of the property, part of a loft conversion, with the walls following the sloping roofline from around 1.5m upwards.
A challenge? Possibly, but nothing is unsurmountable, and we could see there was a dedicated media room just waiting to be created!
Majik House’s Jit Mistry led the project: “We do like a challenge at Majik House and, actually, this proved to be a relatively straightforward but very pleasing commission.”
“The client appreciated that a true cinema room [with projector and screen] wasn’t an option as the space and headroom wouldn’t allow, but the media room experience could still be first class with the right television screen, sound system and lighting design.”
The debate over what is a home cinema and what is a media room is a lengthy and often unnecessary one, in our opinion. A bespoke home cinema room is generally accepted to mean dedicated screen and projector but the ‘cinema experience’ can be achieved with the current generation of UHD TV screens and monitors, video distribution and dynamic audio.
To start with, the sound: “We’ve loved SONOS since we first started working with their products over a decade ago and for this project it was the perfect solution. Compact, stylish, attractive with sound performance that’s hard to beat, and with a ‘pocket-friendly’ price point as well!”
The system incorporates a SONOS Arc soundbar, SONOS Active Subwoofer and a pair of SONOS ERA 100 compact wireless speakers.
“The ERA 100 smart speakers were launched towards the end of 2023 and are the latest incarnation of small room speakers that started back with the SONOS Play:1 range. They are feature-rich and offer a highly detailed, bigger and open sound, so perfect for this project.”
“It still astounds us when people dismiss SONOS as being a retail brand, not a ‘true cinema loudspeaker system’ or whatever – that’s absolute nonsense. This set-up delivers excellent, punchy sound with real impact; genuine cinema quality.”
“Make no mistake, this isn’t just a surround sound set-up, this is genuine Dolby Atmos dynamic cinema sound.”
Back to the screen, and the choice for this room was an LG OLED evo C3 4K Smart TV. The 77” screen size is the largest in the OLED evo range of award-winning televisions from LG, and the picture quality and brightness is something that we’re very impressed with.
“We also used an HD Anywhere extender to support the video distribution, meaning that there’s no perceivable difference in the HDR quality.”
The lighting design in the room is primarily LED strip lighting concealed in ceiling recesses along with just four downlights, from Majik House’s own range of LED lighting. The control system in this instance is Rako, with pre-programmed lighting scenes selected from the attractive brushed aluminium wall-pad.
The room is finished in a deep cobalt blue-grey colour which juxtaposes beautifully with feature natural wood slat walls at each apex end. A striking pair of tan leather recliners with attractive diamond stitching provides the seating, finishing off the whole setting to perfection.
“This was a project that was well planned from the outset and therefore one which could also be completed quickly and with as little disruption to the rest of the house.” Adds Autumn Burrow, Operations Manager at Majik House.
“We – and specifically, Jit – project managed the sub-contractors [builder, electrician and decorators] so the client essentially just had Majik House as their point of contact.”
“From work starting to completion, the room was done in less than three weeks.”
“This wasn’t just because it’s a small project. It was a combination of good planning and management, having our guys in there doing the installation, and the other contractors all on-board with what we’re doing. Really good collaboration and a really good outcome.”
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
“We contacted Majik House as we had an empty room from a loft conversion that we wished to convert into a media room. At the beginning of the project, the room had floorboards and rafters but that was about it.”
“Within three weeks we have an incredible room with a superb sound and vision set up. The project was managed from start to finish by the team at Majik House and every contractor who worked on the project was first class.”
“The project ran exactly to the planned time and to budget. We really could not be happier with the completed room.”
