Interior Design for Residential Cinemas
A guide for both Designers and Integrators
This guide is designed to help Interior Designers understand the key considerations involved in creating a functional residential cinema, while also supporting Integrators in making informed design decisions and implementing effective solutions.
Although certain sections may be more relevant to one group than the other, it is recommended that all readers review the entire guide. Revisiting fundamental principles can provide valuable insights throughout the design process.
This guide is a broad overview. SRND are available to aid with design and specification choices.
Part 1: Residential Cinema Technology and Layout specifications
Residential Cinemas are unique among rooms found in residential premises in that they are almost entirely clad in layers of technology. The following is a brief outline of each of these layers and what details must be considered before beginning work on interior design schemes and layouts.
Sound Proofing
The first step in most residential cinema projects will be sound proofing the room uses floating walls and sound tight, interlocking plasterboard such as Display Technologies MIRs system. This is an essential process that prevents audio leaking from the room and disturbing other members of the household and/or neighbours when the cinema is in use.
Considerations
Layers of floating plaster board add several inches to the thickness of the walls reducing the overall internal room dimensions. Door frames will be deeper to accommodate the additional wall depth and specialist; soundproof doors may also be specified.
Baffle Walls
Baffle walls and specialist baffle wall systems such as Display Technologies Screen Walls hold audio and video equipment including speakers, subwoofers and screens. Often at the front and rear of the room, the depth of a baffle wall will vary depending upon the technology it is housing, normally the depth of the subwoofer.
Considerations
Baffle walls at the front and rear of the room will again reduce the usable space within the room. Baffle walls have significant enough depth that there is a possibility they may encroach on existing architectural features such as windows, doors and columns. Interior designers and integrated ideally will work together to resolve such issues.
Ceiling and side wall speakers
Ceiling and side wall speakers can be wall mounted, dedicated in-wall products such as those included in Soundtube’s Phasetech range, or regular speakers mounted in wall using specialist speaker boxes which can be provided by SRND.
Considerations
Some usable room space can be lost, however with a range of solutions available this can be minimised.
Audio layout
Audio design schemes will be created to provide optimal performance. Depending on the audio specification there may be some flexibility within this layout however if the audio design requires certification from third parties such as Dolby the layout will be strict with little if any room for movement.
Considerations
The Audio layout should be treated as a priority, however depending on the scheme small adjustments can potentially be made to accommodate interior designs. Interior Designers and Integrators should work together to provide the best possible outcome in design and performance.
Screen Walls
In most residential cinema designs the screen itself will accommodate most of the space on the screen wall. It is best to keep the screen wall and the surrounding area simple and high contrast against the screen. Residential cinemas serve a primary, often single, purpose of watching content on the screen so the screen should remain the focal point, free of distraction from finishes and furnishings (more on these can be read below)
Consideration
Interior design features around the screen should be minimal, design flare is best utilised elsewhere in the room.
Projector location
If the technical specification requires a projector, it is important to consider the location. If ceiling mounted it can reduce room height or be visually undesirable. Display Technologies offer a low-profile Ceiling Mount that will minimise the reduction in ceiling height as well as a Motorised Mirror Drop that can house a projector in ceiling. Alternatively, a projector can be mounted on the rear wall using the Display Technologies Vertical Mirror Mount, then hidden behind a false or fabric wall. Projectors are also often housed in an adjoining room. Both adjoining room and rear wall solutions can benefit from the Display Technologies Porthole Glass, which along with providing heat and sound insulation provides a neat finish with trim that can be powder coated to match the room colour scheme in a range of RAL colours. Depending on projector model a range of lenses including short throw lenses may be available and aid in positioning. Wherever the projector is located sight lines between the projector and screen are vital and must not be obscured.
Considerations
A range of products and solutions are available to best house and position the projector, Interior Designers and Integrators should work together on solutions. Sight lines however are non-negotiable.
Seating Position
An ideal seating position is decided based on the audio and video specification. Designers should retain this position and treat it as the primary seat that will be used by the end client. If there are multiple rows of seating it is good practice to offset seats to improve viewing angles.
Considerations
Use the ideal seating position as a starting point when laying out furniture. If the end client has requested a certain seating product or type that they will be using over other seating, then this is the location to place it. Do not deviate from this ideal seating placement. Offset seating between rows by alternating seat counts, for example 3 seats in the front row and 4 in row two. Or sue different types of seating such as sofas with armchairs.
Staging
Cinemas with multiple rows of seating will stagger the height of those rows using staging and steps.
Considerations
Each row will reduce the floor to ceiling height, consider how this will apply to wall details such as panelling as well as anything on the ceiling such as lighting.
Cinemas are often dark, with this in mind it is good practice to include step lighting to avoid accidents.
Acoustic Treatment and Internal fabric shell
Much of the remaining wall and ceiling space will be covered with acoustic treatment panels such as the C-ATS Reverberation, Reflection and Resonance panels. Between acoustic treatment and other technology already outlined little to no wall space is left available for interior design, for this reason residential cinemas are often designed using an inner shell of false walls dividing the room itself from the technology utilised. However, these inner skins need to work with the technology and therefore are made primarily of acoustically transparent fabric.
The Fabric Walls system is an ideal solution for creating the inner fabric shell. Fabric Walls panels are easy to install and modular in design, can be combined with Fabric Walls Elements to add light strips or columns and are manufactured in the SRND factory heavily reducing time spent on site.
Considerations
The visible interior walls and ceiling will be mostly made up of an internal skin, made up primarily of fabric. This skin can be a standalone, single body piece, stretched fabric applied directly to walls or a series of panels. Large, flat areas that would traditionally be painted plaster in other rooms are made up of fabric instead, utilise areas such as inner sections of paneling or between columns as fabric areas to mimic design schemes.
