The departure point for this project was to create the best possible theatre. This room design was based upon the pursuit to achieve perfect listening and viewing conditions. It is an endeavor that is not usually attempted in commercial facilities for practical and economic reasons.
This theatre captured the title of BEST HOME THEATRE at CEDIA 2004.
The look of the room was derived by being totally dedicated to achieving sound and picture performance. In other words the appearance of the surfaces were determined foremost for their particular acoustic needs and then to minimize interference with the projected image. The result is an aesthetic based upon acoustic rationalism. Nothing in the design was done for pure aesthetic reasons, all aspects can be traced back to the departure point of the design process, namely absolute performance.
When it comes to squeezing every last ounce of performance out of a space, everything becomes important. It is no different for the sound isolation. It is through high isolation that the room becomes capable of achieving very, very low background noise. In this case it is so good that it is almost un-measurable at NC-5. Every part of the dynamic range is thereby perceivable, with nothing buried below the room noise floor.
The room was basically constructed of a massive box floating inside of the shell provided for it. It is only dynamically attached to the building by gravity, through special isolators located beneath its concrete floor. All walls, floors and ceilings are not rigidly connected to the structure. All doors and windows respect this dynamic separation through the use of specially designed assemblies that allow physical movement with no transfer of vibration.
The walls consist of rigid framing, which is insulated and then laminated with several layers of gypsum wall board, high density fiber board, and a constrained layer damping.
