Dedicated Home Cinema Room, Surrey

An 8-Seat Dedicated Cinema Room in Surrey

This dedicated home cinema room in Surrey occupies a purpose-built space measuring 6m wide by 5.5m deep — large enough to accommodate a genuinely theatrical experience, and designed from first principles to make the most of every square metre. A 3.8m acoustically transparent projector screen, a Sony VPL-VW760ES 4K laser projector, a full Artcoustic 7.2.2 speaker system and Crestron lighting and control combine in a room that has been acoustically modelled, fabric-wrapped and tuned to perform as well as it looks.

The Projection System

The Sony VPL-VW760ES is one of Sony’s finest residential laser projectors, producing a native 4K image with 2,000 lumens of brightness and the exceptional black levels and colour accuracy that laser illumination delivers. It projects onto a 3.8m (150-inch) Screen Excellence acoustically transparent screen spanning the full width of the front wall. The acoustically transparent screen allows the three Artcoustic front-stage speakers and two subwoofers to sit directly behind it, maintaining perfect spatial alignment between image and sound.

Artcoustic 7.2.2 Surround Sound

The speaker package is a full Artcoustic 7.2.2 immersive audio configuration — seven main channels, two subwoofers and two height channels. The front stage comprises three Artcoustic Spitfire 24-12 speakers and two Control 3 subwoofers behind the screen. Four Artcoustic Spitfire 8-4 speakers in the fabric walls handle rear and surround channels, and two Architect SL4-2 ceiling speakers provide Dolby Atmos height channels.

The system is driven by an Anthem MRX-720 AVR, with Anthem’s ARC room correction software performing full acoustic calibration after installation. Artcoustic’s high sensitivity rating puts it among the most efficient loudspeaker brands available, so reference-level dynamics are achievable with comparatively modest amplifier power. That efficiency is why an integrated Anthem receiver is a strong partner for an Artcoustic cinema of this size, without the complexity of a separate processor and power amplifier stack.

The room brought together every one of our core cinema disciplines: installation, room design, acoustic treatment, calibration and seating, each specified as part of a single design rather than as separate products. The services below are the ones this cinema was built on.

Seating and Lighting

Eight electric recliners are arranged across two rows, with the rear row raised on an elevated platform. Tables between seats provide space for drinks and accommodate individual reading lights. As on every cinema we design, the seating was specified as part of the room design rather than selected afterwards, with row positions and the height of the rear platform fixed during the layout phase to give clear sightlines to the screen from every seat and room for each seat to recline.

A full Crestron lighting control system manages every light across multiple scenes — bright for entry, dim amber during viewing and fully off for maximum immersion. One button press starts the projector, selects the source and sets the correct lighting scene.

The lighting design is integral to the experience. Four individually controllable lighting circuits — cove uplighting, seat spotlights, stair riser LEDs and entrance downlights — are programmed into five scenes: pre-show, film, interval, exit and cleaning. Each scene is recalled from a Crestron keypad at the entrance and from the Crestron touchpanel at the seating position, and the film scene dims every circuit to its calibrated level in a fifteen-second ramp that is itself part of the experience.

Sources

Sources include Sky Q, Apple TV 4K and a Kaleidescape movie server. Kaleidescape downloads films to local storage before playback and delivers bit-for-bit lossless Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD and DTS:X soundtracks, with no buffering and no dependency on internet connectivity while a film is playing. In a room with a calibrated 7.2.2 system and a native 4K laser projector, it is the source that reveals what the rest of the system can do.

Acoustic Treatment

The acoustic performance was not left to chance. A full acoustic model was built during design, identifying treatment positions to control standing waves and early reflections. Walls and ceiling are finished in an acoustic fabric system applied over fleece wrap, absorbing and diffusing sound at every room boundary without visible acoustic panels.

The result is an exceptionally neutral acoustic environment, free of the bass build-up and frequency colouration that affect untreated rooms. Because the treatment sits behind the fabric, the same finish also hides the four Spitfire 8-4 surround speakers in the side and rear walls, so the room reads as a single, continuous finished surface. Only the screen, the seating and the lighting are visible — the technology that makes the room perform is out of sight.

The fabric walls follow the approach we take on every cinema. Where speakers sit behind the finish, we specify an open-weave acoustic cloth chosen alongside the speaker specification, so it doesn’t dull high frequencies on their way into the room. Any panel concealing a speaker that may need future access is built removable, so a service visit never means cutting into a finished wall.

Calibration

Once the room was complete, the system was calibrated with Anthem’s ARC room correction, using a professional measurement microphone to measure the frequency response across the seating positions and correct it within the processor. The acoustic model at the design stage meant the room reached calibration in good condition, so the correction could refine the result rather than fight the room. As with every system we install, calibration is a mandatory part of the installation rather than an optional extra: speaker levels, distances, crossover points and equalisation are all set in the finished room, and the two Atmos height channels are calibrated with the same care as the main channels.

The Result

A room designed and built to perform — from screen and projector selection to acoustic modelling, speaker positioning, fabric finish and Crestron control interface. Every decision was made in service of the experience. It is the kind of cinema that, once built, is used daily rather than saved for special occasions, and our London office designs and installs dedicated cinema rooms like this across Surrey and the South East.

Frequently Asked Questions — Dedicated Cinema Room, Surrey

How big is this dedicated cinema room?
The room measures 6m wide by 5.5m deep — large enough for a 3.8m (150-inch) screen and two rows of seating for eight, designed from first principles to make full use of the space available.

Why use an acoustically transparent screen?
An acoustically transparent screen allows the front-stage speakers — in this case three Artcoustic Spitfire speakers and two subwoofers — to sit directly behind it, keeping sound and image perfectly aligned rather than positioning speakers to the side of the screen.

Is acoustic modelling necessary for a dedicated cinema room?
Yes, for a room performing at this level. A full acoustic model was built at the design stage for this Surrey room, identifying treatment positions before construction to control standing waves and early reflections — producing a neutral acoustic environment rather than relying on guesswork after the fact.

Which projector, processor and speakers are used?
A Sony VPL-VW760ES native 4K laser projector, an Anthem MRX-720 AV receiver with ARC room correction and an Artcoustic 7.2.2 system: three Spitfire 24-12 front speakers, two Control 3 subwoofers, four Spitfire 8-4 surrounds and two Architect SL4-2 ceiling speakers.

How is the cinema lighting controlled?
A Crestron lighting control system runs four circuits — cove uplighting, seat spotlights, stair riser LEDs and entrance downlights — in five scenes, recalled from a Crestron keypad at the entrance or the Crestron touchpanel at the seating position.

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Project Gallery

The front and rear views of the finished Surrey cinema room, each shown alongside the same view with the fabric finish removed to reveal the Artcoustic speakers behind it. From the front, the three Spitfire speakers and two Control 3 subwoofers sit in the recess behind the 3.8m screen position; from the rear, the Spitfire 8-4 surrounds are visible on the side and rear walls. The rear views also show the two rows of seating, with tables and reading lights between the seats and the projector position above the back row.