Project: Bar & Cinema with Lots of Atmos(phere)
Many homeowners who consider having a cinema in their own four walls sooner or later set their sights on the basement. There is often enough space to plan freely, the cinema installation wouldn’t compromise the design of the living area, and the structural conditions are usually good enough to allow for appropriate volume levels during movie nights without constantly having problems with the neighbors. However, a bare basement is not exactly the coziest place to be, and the acoustic conditions are often far from ideal. So, while the basement is well-suited for installing a cinema, there are many factors that need to be considered during planning and implementation. As always with projects like this, the work starts with thorough planning.
For the owner of the cinema featured here, it was also clear that the redesigned room should be more than just a cinema. Instead, it was meant to be a space where you could host a party with friends or retreat alone to relax. The Westphalian set to work, planned the positioning of the TV, screen, projector, and seating, and designed an elegantly curved bar counter for the remaining space. With its massive steel surface, deliberately rusted and then sealed, the bar is not only a real eye-catcher in the recreation room, but it also cleverly incorporates space for all the home cinema electronics, essentially serving as the control center for the private cinema. The LED strips mounted on the front accentuate the bar’s curved shape and provide ambient lighting during movie screenings.
Despite the flexible ways the room could be used, the owner did not want to compromise on the quality of his home cinema. That’s why he brought in Dennis Wilms, an expert planner from Auditorium, to help with the design. A high-quality 4K projector from Sony and a motorized screen from the industry leader Stewart were already on hand; together, the projector’s impressive brightness and the gray Stewart screen ensure that the picture quality in the bright room remains absolutely stunning, even with ambient lighting turned on.
The loudspeaker configuration posed a greater challenge. Naturally, the new cinema was also expected to meet the latest standards and offer full support for the 3D audio formats Atmos and Auro 3D, meaning that no fewer than 11 speakers needed to be integrated as discreetly as possible. For the ‘regular’ surround setup, flat yet powerful wall speakers from DALI’s Opticon and Rubicon series were used, but a different solution was needed for the ceiling speakers. For aesthetic reasons, the sound sources needed to be completely hidden, but due to the already low ceiling height in its raw state, there wasn’t enough room for a suspended ceiling as is usually required for conventional ceiling speakers. Instead, ultra-flat carbon soundboards from PurSonic were installed, which can be fitted beneath the ceiling plaster and guarantee maximum sound with minimal installation depth.
The overall result is truly impressive, both visually and acoustically. The projector and screen work together perfectly, and the sound is always precise, powerful, and tonally spot-on, even at full volume. This is especially remarkable because, thanks to the completely invisible ceiling speakers, a stunning 3D listening experience is achieved.
Bar atmosphere, party location, retreat, or action cinema—this media room, which we think is extremely well done, is suitable for a wide range of uses that don’t have to exclude each other.
