ESSENTIAL CASE STUDY

AONYX PERFECTLY EXECUTES LUXURY CINEMA

Also including a billiards room and bowling alley, this very special entertainment space was created for an exclusive Thames-side development.

At a new luxury apartment building on the River Thames; custom interior finishes, prime location and extravagant amenities combine to create an ultra-high-end experience. With apartment prices reaching as much as £7.8 million, it’s no surprise that the owners wanted a world-class entertainment area which boasts an (impressively proportioned) 18-seat cinema as well as a bowling alley and a billiards room.

Richard Reid, Managing Director of AONYX - the installation company responsible for the creation of this impressive set of amenities, says the building’s developer knew early on that the occupants would require catered experiences in addition to luxurious residences, so they decided it was crucial to include high-end versions of fun activities to differentiate from other buildings and entice potential buyers.

“The top end of London’s residential real estate market is in a bit of an arms race to provide high-net worth individuals with customized living experiences and centre-piece amenities like this incredible movie theater, in order to make a statement to potential buyers,” Richard says. “Every detail matters here, from colour-matched custom-painted grilles for the Triad Platinum Series in-ceiling speakers to the hand-built projector enclosures. The most important thing, however, is that the room and system is always reliable and easy to use and that’s why we chose to install Control4.”

To create an easy-to-use environment for all of the functionalities the three areas provide, the team employed an intuitive and expandable Control4 system. Using the system’s straightforward user interface, staff can quickly and easily set up or shut down the entire entertainment area, choose movies or music and set the volume for each independent area. The cinema, bowling alley and billiards room each have hidden Triad speakers in the walls and ceilings to play any audio residents desire through the Control4 multi-room audio system. Each room can play the same music or can use different sources for multiple groups.

In addition to the painted in-ceiling speakers, AONYX also installed acoustic treatments and Triad in-wall speakers behind the cinema fabric walls and behind the screen itself to deliver a commercial-grade surround sound experience for each seat. Kaleidescape players in each room offer a custom selection of titles chosen by property management, while Apple TVs enable residents to bring their own content or connect to subscription streaming services.

“In buildings like this, the goal is to ensure residents can live carefree and not have to trouble themselves with details or procedures of building functions,” says Oliver Benson, Operations Director at AONYX, “All the hidden technology in these rooms present an out-ofsight, out-of-mind experience that provides all the benefits of top-shelf tech with none of the headaches. The property managers are even planning to offer new film screenings, private events and potentially offer the space for booking to outside parties.”

The billiards room and bowling alley also feature TVs that receive video signal through the Control4 system, and each display can play its own content or share a video stream with other areas. This flexible system allows larger parties to enjoy the full entertainment options together and separate groups to use separate rooms simultaneously. Residents can book the cinema and other spaces through a digital reservation system. Because it is a basement entertainment area, AONYX also beefed up the space’s wireless networking with professionalgrade networking gear so there is plenty of bandwidth to support dozens of guests and the AV system as well.

Dramatic lighting and luxury seating create the right atmosphere

Creating a high-end space like this is always going to have its challenges in getting the system to the right level. The brief was clear in that the system had to be super discreet with none of the electronics on show. The team created some highly attractive cabinetry at the rear of the room to house the projector as well as designing and building the tiered seating platform (including access) for wheelchair users, to ensure a great view for all and to maintain the high-end look and feel of the space. This was complicated by the relatively long and thin shape of the shell the team was given to work with, but the result looks very impressive. Lighting was always going to be very important in a space like this for obvious practical reasons, but also to create drama and atmosphere. The combination of different lighting sources at different levels really makes the space come alive and adds another layer of luxury. Reliability is also built into the structure with full remote access available to the team to check everything is working OK and fix faults; if possible in minutes, rather than rolling to site.

Richard concludes, “Using the latest technologies and finest finishes, we help design and integrate world-class amenities to satisfy the upper echelon of homeowners. With Control 4 and Triad, we can bring commercial movie magic to private spaces in a way that’s intuitive, expandable and able to blend in with any aesthetic.”

Essential Cinema Kit List

Barco: Balder Cinemascope Projector Barco: EN44 Lens

Barco: Balder Rigging Frame Brand: Fixed 4.1m 2.37:1 Acoustically Transparent Projection Screen Triad: 3 x OnWall Platinum LCR

Triad: 2 x Triad InWall Silver/6 Monitor

Triad: 4 x Triad InCeiling Silver/6 Monitor Triad: 2 x Triad InWall Gold/4 Surround

Sonance: 2 x R12SUB

Sonance: 2 x Sonamp 2-750 MKII Triad: 2 x InRoom Platinum Sub

Triad: 2 x 700 DSP Subwoofer Amplifier Arcam: AV 860 Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Processor

Arcam: 4 x FMJ P349 3 x 200w per channel Power Amplifier Kaleidescape: Strato S 4K Ultra HD Movie Player - 12TB Apple: Apple TV Panasonic: DPUB9000 Blu-ray Player Control4: EA-5 System Processor Control4: 7in wall-mounted Touchscreen

Control4: SR260 Remote incl. charging dock and EA1 Controller

Furman: Rack-mounted 10A power conditioner

HDBaseT 4K over Cat6 extender kit

Cisco Layer 3 Gigabit 24 Port PoE network switch

Draytek Vigor dual band firewall router

AONYX aonyx.co.uk Management Controls Control4 7in Portable Touchscreen incl. charging dock Control4 App

Lighting Control Equipment Control4 2 Slot Din Rail Lighting Enclosure Control4 C4-DIN-8DIM-E - 8-Channel Adaptive Phase Dimmer Control4 C4-DIN-8ESW-E - 8-Port Din Rail Ethernet Switch

Control4 C4-DIN-BEG - Bus Ethernet Gateway Control4 C4-DIN-BPS48 - 48V Bus Power Supply Control4 C4-SKCB2-N - Square Wired Configurable Keypad V2 - neutral Control4 - C4-SFP1 - Faceplate, One-Gang - UK/EU Version

Control4 C4-CKSK-MB - Keypad Buttons - midnight black (satin)

Backend / Ancillary Equipment 42U 19in cabinet w/ locking glass door, shelving & cable management Excel 24 port unsheilded cat6 patch panel P8E -Pakedge 8-Outlet Intelligent Power Distribution Unit

Furman rackmount 10A power conditioner Thermostatic rackmount cooling fan Consumables (cables, interconnects & accessories)

The entertainment space covers three separate areas, but the AV in each zone can work in conjunction with each other