This New Jersey traditional theatre is the ideal retreat. Upon arrival at the client's home we walked into an open basement with a pre-existing large stone fireplace. After much discussion with the client a decision was made to incorporate the fireplace into the design. The client was concerned about sound leaking outside of the room so we installed our noise barrier treatment on all 4 walls and the ceiling. We also floated all the walls with a resilient channel every 24" to prevent vibration of the low frequencies traveling through the stud walls. Special gasketing was installed on all doors to prevent sound from escaping.

The design of the room had many challenges, the first challenge was to design a room with the fireplace as a non-focal point. The client wanted it to be a traditional theatre with heavy wood detail, wainscoting, coffered ceiling, fiber optics, and custom sculpted molding around the screen area. The client also requested a chandelier to add theatrical flair. We added a center opening motorized theatre curtain with 2 rows of trim and 1 row of bullion fringe and a pronounced stage to add to the dramatic feel of an authentic proscenium detail without being too over the top. The second challenge was finding a location to put the AV equipment, it would have to be placed inside the theatre room. So we created a closet with HVAC routed to the rack area to suck all of the hot air out and bring cool air in on a constant basis. A/V Racks can get very hot so proper ventilation is a must for optimum performance. During the planning stages our designer Mark Sorin noticed that we had two recesses in the walls on either side of the fireplace. Mark saw these two spaces as a perfect place to create cabinets with granite tops to store DVD's and other accessories. Once the A/V equipment provided by ACS in Colts Neck, NJ was installed we where now ready to bring in the eight AcousticSmart cinema loungers with dual motor mechanisms to operate the footrest and back both independently. Finally the room was complete. Our mission was accomplished. We designed an opulent space which was warm and inviting without the fireplace being the main focal point of the room.. This theatre is an ideal space for entertaining or taking refuge from the everyday stresses in life.