When we were asked to build a 15-seat theater in a home in Beverly Hills, some aspects of the job were ideal; some, not so much. On the upside, the owners would be leaving for an extended stay in Hawaii during the build; sweet! No holdups over owner schedules, parking, deliveries, or storage of materials and supplies. We had worked with these owners before. They had a lot of trust in us and were confident in leaving the project in our hands. On the downside, our deadline was tight with a hard completion deadline. The owners wanted the theater finished and ready for action when they returned home. There was no wiggle room in the schedule.
The Vision Comes Alive In the Design
The challenge was to take the owners’ vision and translate it into the theater of their dreams. The owners wanted to incorporate elements of their Hawaiian home that they loved, including a night-sky star ceiling; wenge, maple, and koa wood trim; and honey onyx features. The breathtaking space that resulted included metal and onyx sconces, a backlit onyx bar, and a star ceiling with a newly designed soffit to house and hide a new HVAC system and provide a new lighting feature. Note: backlit stone is a design concept currently taking LA’s Westside by storm, and for good reason. It’s a very cool look.
Step One: All Questions Answered. All Details Planned.
The first step was the same as always on our jobs but was more critical than ever because of the completion deadline and the scheduled absence of the owners during the build. We planned and specified every aspect of the project down to the last detail, from room dimensions to finishes, seating configurations to light fixtures. Colors, woods, stone, fabrics, carpeting, hardware, and AV components were sourced and decided, and we mapped out the entire construction schedule. Our detailed preparation leaves nothing in question. Our goal is to be fully prepared before we start, and then perform a well-orchestrated build that moves forward without stops or do-overs caused by postponed or unexpected decisions.
Total Sound Isolation and Highest Quality Components
To start, this was a retrofit, so we had to knock out all the drywall down to the studs, then add clips to decouple the walls and ceiling, working around the studs and ceiling joints. Then we built a complete acoustic shell, creating a fully sound-isolated room. We installed professionally designed acoustic treatments and acoustic paneling to provide the best possible sound on the interior.
AV features included:
- CEN-GWEXER infiNET EX® & ER Wireless Gateway
- CP3 3-Series Control System™
- Kaleidescape Strato Movie Player
- NEC NC1201L Digital Cinema Projector
- Wisdom Planar Magnetic Hybrid Line Source Loudspeaker
- Wisdom S90i Subwoofer
- Wisdom SA Series System Amplifiers
- XLR3-173,1-2.35-4WB Screen
Fabric was supplied by Design Alliance LA, flooring was provided by Contempo Floor Coverings, and Cineak created the luxury theater seating. A/B Audio Video handled the AV aspects of the project, including all the AV components and the precision installation. We were gratified to see our great relationships with suppliers and subcontractors paying off: Everybody jumped through hoops to make things happen for this job.
Special Challenges
In the owners’ earlier theater, the projector was inside the room, an arrangement that made for noise and a break in the design flow. We moved the projector to its own projection room, which we created from an adjacent bedroom, and we added a hidden door for access from outside the theater.
One of the project’s challenges was getting the number of seats into the space that the owners wanted: a total of 15. This required some clever configuration to ensure that each seat provided a perfect viewing angle and acoustic experience.
The Finished Theater: DCI-Compliant and a Total Wow Factor
Finally, the precision-installed, highest quality components resulted in a digital cinema system that qualified the build as a DCI-compliant theater, with Dolby Atmos components creating unbelievable 3D sound.
The total project from beginning to end took 8 months, an impressively short time span given the number of subcontractors, the specialty elements, the long-distance communications, and the out-of-our-control delays and hiccups caused by the Covid pandemic, which took off right as our project began.
When we finished, the look and feel, the luxury, and the total escape that the space provided had a wow factor that was off the charts. But most of all, the visual and acoustic cinematic experience was out of this world. When we played the opening scenes of the film, “Despicable Me” for the owner’s rep a week before the owners returned to LA, she blurted out, “That was sick!” The highest compliment, Hawaiian-style.
We Build Theaters Large and Small – Contact Us
Cinergy Construction is an expert in the construction of theaters in homes, production facilities, and as free-standing large-capacity venues, and we partner with the best in AV equipment and installation, luxury seating, and acoustic design and calibration. If you want the best in theater construction, we’re here. Contact us online or give us a call at 800-338-3199 to discuss your theater needs.
