AVD Awards
A Family Recreation Center & a Cool Penthouse Pad
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Engineered designs win awards for AVD
The awards and honors keep coming. A theater that serves as focal point of a dynamic family entertainment space took the top prize for Media Room in the latest New England Luxury Living Awards competition. A multi-use theater in a South End penthouse took the second place award in the same category.
The contrast of these two winning media rooms — one designed as a stylized place where family would spend time together, the other created for a successful city-dwelling professional seeking to combine fun with sophistication — shows the versatility of Audio Video Design.
In another competition, a Weston home won first place in for total electronic integration in a prestigious national industry competition.
Gathering in Style
The award-winning family room project was designed in collaboration with D. Michael Collins Architects, Christine Lane Interiors and Conant Construction. Cabinetry and columns surround the theater, which is the centerpiece of an area that also includes ping pong and pool tables, arcade games, and state-of-the-art media technology.
With two teenagers, the owners sought to create a space where the family would spend time together, where the kids would want to bring their friends, and where the parents could enjoy weekend entertaining. They included a wine cellar as well as a golf simulator that makes it possible to play any course in the world — projected on a video screen. A stepped down seating pit and LCD projected 110-inch screen provide a great setting for parties of all sorts, with contemporary red recliners for additional seating.
Taking it to the Top
The owner of the urban penthouse space wanted everything necessary for an exceptional movie theater experience. But in a condo — even one comprised of two units combined into a single luxury home — a dedicated theater was not an option. Audio Video Design engineered a solution using a 52 x 92-inch screen — so large that it had to be delivered to the penthouse by crane — which disappears with the touch of a button. Audio Video Design also engineered a touch panel that controls the projector, lighting, whole-house audio, and motorized drapes, making it possible for this room to do double-duty as a living space and spectacular media room. With a full-sized air hockey table on one side of the room, and city view windows on the other, the space — created in cooperation with Hacin and Associates, Duffy Design Group and Sea-Dar Construction — offers amusement as well as elegance.
Nationally Noted
A Weston client wanted her home to function not only as a personal living space, but also as a place where she could conduct business as a marketing consultant, and as setting for entertainment. Working in partnership with the Audio Video Design team, she selected electronics to support all those distinctive needs, from internet access and TiVo in the dining room that doubles as a conference area, to a cigar ventilation system in the basement media room that doubles as a larger meeting space, with on-screen capabilities via laptop.
This project won a top national award for Integration and Engineered Solutions, in a competition judged by members of the trade press, who made the following comments: “The system design masterfully met the customer’s very specific functional requirements, integrating a wide range of systems on a grand scale, while simultaneously complementing the style and décor of the home.”
With architecture by Luna Design Group, built by Kistler and Knapp, along custom with millwork by Woodmeister, the home makes a statement from the start, with a Versailles-style foyer reflecting the homeowner’s preference for fanciful elegance, with nothing held back. The award winning electronics are an extension of this penchant.
Working with the Room
The platinum award-winning theater space is inviting for kids and dramatic for adults, but the room configuration meant that traditional on-wall or in-wall surround sound speakers were not an option. To meet the challenge, the AVD Design Team
Chose ceiling speakers with a pivoting design for directional flexibility
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Used an LCD projector that gave us the geometry adjustments to compensate for a short throw distance and steep projection angle
Hidden Assets
The penthouse home, created by connecting two fully finished condominium units, presented some significant logistical challenges — including running wires and cables, and resolving signal issues, with all the components supporting the media room housed in a separate service space. Some of our design and engineering feats included
A movie screen that raises easily into an overhead trap door, revealing a stunning stone fireplace, and the contemporary painting which hangs over it.
The center-channel speaker that plays behind a virtually invisible screen, painted to match the slate colored wall.
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A digital light processing projector (DLP) which produce a crisp image, even when the room is brightly lit by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.
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Motorized drapes to bring the room to total darkness for more serious movie watching.
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Fully integrated X-Box for big screen video games.
Single System Simplicity
The award-winning integrated electronics designed for the Versailles-style Weston residence revolves around a single, user-friendly system that controls
Whole-house audio and video distribution
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Motorized shades and drapes
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Automated heating and air conditioning
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Lighting and fireplace control
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Alarm and surveillance
The client asked for the convenience of complete access to the entire system from any location, including the outdoor pool area. AVD technicians created an innovative simple-to-use page on her control panel, displaying all components at once.