Cotswolds Outdoor Cinema Install

A 201-inch Outdoor Cinema in the Cotswolds

This extended and renovated property in the Cotswolds AONB is a genuinely special project. Our clients approached us initially to install a high-end audio system throughout the grounds, and over the course of client meetings this evolved into a stunning outdoor cinema. The original design was a projector-based system projecting through floor-to-ceiling windows onto a specially rendered wall. The client then decided more wow factor was required. The final design is a C Seed 201-inch (5.11m) TV that rises from the ground in a column before unfolding to reveal the screen: a technological marvel with zero footprint when not in use.

The Outdoor Audio System

Five Origin Outdoor Cabinet speakers on the TV wall provide front channels. Origin spike speakers to the side and rear provide surround and back channels. Four Origin Acoustics 12-inch buried subwoofers deliver deep bass throughout the garden. Three further Origin cabinet speakers extend music distribution to the wider garden when a music source is selected. The entire audio system is powered by a Trinnov 16-channel cinema processor and associated Trinnov amplifiers. In music mode, the Trinnov system calibrates to mono audio with subwoofer enhancement: the perfect audio experience from anywhere in the garden regardless of seating position.

The C Seed 201 Display

The C Seed 201-inch display, 5.11 metres when unfolded, is the centrepiece and the element that captures immediate attention. It rises from the ground inside a sealed column, then unfolds to reveal the full screen. When the film is over, the entire mechanism retracts below ground level, leaving zero visible footprint in the garden. Choosing it over the original projection design removed the need for a rendered projection wall and floor-to-ceiling windows to project through, and gave the garden a display that simply disappears when it is not in use.

Trinnov Altitude Processing and Calibration

The Trinnov Altitude 16 processor manages a speaker array that covers the primary seating area and the entire garden simultaneously. Cinema mode and garden music mode are entirely separate configurations, recalled from the Crestron iPad app without the user needing to understand the underlying complexity. Trinnov’s calibration uses a tetrahedral 3D microphone to measure each speaker’s response and its precise position, then corrects amplitude, time and phase for every channel. Its speaker remapping adjusts the rendering for speakers that cannot sit in their theoretically ideal positions, which is exactly the situation in a garden, where planting, walls and seating dictate where a speaker can go. As with every system we install, calibration is a mandatory part of the handover, not an optional extra.

Control and Sources

The whole system is effortlessly controlled from a Crestron iPad app. A single button press causes the C Seed TV to rise, audio to switch on in the correct decoder format and the selected source to appear. Access to all house-wide services is available in the garden, including Kaleidescape 4K HDR, Sky TV, internet radio, Spotify and Soundcloud, making this as flexible a system outdoors as it is indoors.

Kaleidescape 4K Source

The Kaleidescape movie server provides uncompressed 4K source material, which matters outdoors, where the C Seed’s display capability can fully resolve detail that compressed streaming cannot provide. Kaleidescape’s standard 4K encode averages around 65 megabits per second, against around 8 megabits per second for leading streaming services, and its soundtracks are lossless. On a screen more than five metres across, that difference in source quality is visible from every seat.

Built for the Garden

Every element of the system has to live outdoors all year round. Origin’s outdoor range is rated for permanent outdoor installation, with UV-resistant materials, IPX5 weatherproofing and stainless steel hardware, and the subwoofers are buried to keep the garden clear. The system is weatherproofed and monitored remotely, so faults can be picked up before the client next wants to use it. This is one of our most extraordinary installations anywhere in the portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions — Outdoor Cinema, Cotswolds

How does the C Seed outdoor TV work?
The C Seed 201-inch display rises from the ground inside a sealed column before unfolding to reveal the full screen — 5.11 metres when extended. When not in use, the entire mechanism retracts below ground level, leaving zero visible footprint in the garden.

Can outdoor cinema audio cover an entire garden?
Yes. This installation uses a Trinnov Altitude 16-channel processor driving Origin Acoustics cabinet speakers, spike speakers and four buried 12-inch subwoofers, with a separate garden music mode that switches to mono with subwoofer enhancement for consistent sound regardless of where guests are standing.

Can an outdoor cinema access the same sources as an indoor system?
Yes. This garden cinema has full access to the property’s Kaleidescape 4K movie server, Sky TV, internet radio, Spotify and Soundcloud — all controlled from the same Crestron iPad app used throughout the rest of the house.

What happens when the system is switched to music?
Three further Origin cabinet speakers extend music to the wider garden, and the Trinnov processor switches to a mono configuration with subwoofer enhancement, so the music sounds balanced from anywhere in the garden rather than from one seating position.

Origin Acoustics Speakers → · Trinnov Home Cinema → · Kaleidescape → · Home Cinema Installation → · Crestron Home Automation → · Home Cinema Installer London →

Project Gallery

The images below show the garden design around the outdoor cinema. The first shows the C Seed screen unfolded above the main seating area, with the garden walls and planting beyond, and the second shows the sunken fire-pit seating that looks back towards the house. The third shows the pool terrace at dusk, part of the wider garden covered by the Origin music system.