Living Room Cinema Extension — Kensington, London

Artcoustic Living Room Cinema in Kensington

The brief for this Kensington living room cinema was clear: a high-end home cinema system installed into a modern extension without compromising the aesthetic in any way. The clean lines and white colour scheme ruled out free-standing speakers. The client’s insistence on top sound quality ruled out ceiling speakers. The answer was Artcoustic on-wall speakers, and the result demonstrates that a high-end home cinema can be installed in almost any room without leaving a visual trace.

The Speaker Solution

Front left, centre and right Artcoustic on-wall speakers are complemented by an Artcoustic on-wall subwoofer, all in a matching finish that blends with the room’s colour scheme. The Denon AVR, Sky HD and Blu-ray player are housed in an adjoining room, meaning the only visible equipment in the extension is the 55-inch Samsung LED TV and the Artcoustic speakers. The TV sends its audio to the Denon AVR for full surround decoding, ensuring streaming services, satellite TV and physical media all benefit from the same high-quality sound.

Artcoustic On-Wall Speakers

Artcoustic’s on-wall range is slim enough that some models sit just 67mm off the wall, which is what allows a full front stage to sit on a flat wall without dominating a minimalist room. Cabinets and grilles can be specified in any NCS or RAL colour, so the speakers can be matched precisely to the wall finish, and the magnetically attached front grilles lift off to reveal the drive units behind. Artcoustic’s high sensitivity makes reference-level dynamics achievable with comparatively modest amplifier power, which suits a system driven by a single AV receiver.

Equipment Out of Sight

Moving the Denon AVR, Sky HD box and Blu-ray player into an adjoining room left the extension free of equipment racks, cables and indicator lights. Because the television passes its audio to the AVR, every source, including the TV’s own streaming apps, plays through the Artcoustic system. Only the television and the colour-matched speakers remain in view.

Crestron Control

The whole home is controlled via the Crestron Mobile App on an iPad. Sky, Blu-ray, Apple TV and streaming services including Netflix and BBC iPlayer are all accessible from the same interface alongside lighting control. It is a modern installation for a modern family, designed to work without instruction.

Kensington — Discreet by Design

Kensington properties demand a particular approach to technology integration. The interiors are typically designed to a high standard and any visible AV equipment needs to justify its presence aesthetically. This living room cinema answers that challenge: the Artcoustic speakers are present in the room without announcing themselves, the equipment is out of sight, and the room reads as a contemporary living space with no evidence of the cinema system beneath its surface.

Frequently Asked Questions — Kensington Living Room Cinema

Can a TV-based system deliver proper cinema sound?
Yes. This installation pairs a 55-inch Samsung TV with a full Artcoustic 5.1 on-wall surround system and a Denon AVR for decoding — delivering genuine surround performance across streaming, satellite and physical media sources, without a projector or screen.

Can speakers be made completely invisible in a modern interior?
Yes. Artcoustic’s slim on-wall speakers and subwoofers can be specified in a colour and finish matched to the room, and source equipment can be relocated to an adjoining room entirely — leaving only the television and the colour-matched speakers visible in the finished space.

How is this system controlled?
The whole home, including this room’s AV system, is controlled from the Crestron app on an iPad — sources, streaming services and lighting all accessible from a single interface designed to need no instruction.

Why were ceiling speakers ruled out?
The client’s insistence on top sound quality ruled out ceiling speakers, while the clean lines and white colour scheme ruled out free-standing speakers. Artcoustic on-wall speakers met both requirements.

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Project Gallery

The images below show the finished extension, with the Samsung TV and white Artcoustic on-wall speakers set against the room’s clean white walls and glazing. The second image shows the speakers and subwoofer with their covers removed, revealing the drive units behind the grilles. With the covers in place, the front stage reads as a set of simple white panels rather than a speaker system.