The brief
Our client had just bought a stylish apartment in a newly built block. Unfortunately the opportunity for pre-wiring the property during construction had passed. The client required a plasma home cinema in the lounge, an LCD cinema in the bedroom and TV in the bathroom. The owner also wanted extra telephone and LAN points installing as well as two wall mounted SliMP3 units.In detail
A plasma cinema was requested for the lounge area, to be as modern looking and discreet as possible to match the minimalist decoration the owner had in mind. Telephone and Gigabit-ready computer network points were required in all three bedrooms and lounge. An existing cinema system required installation in the main bedroom with the addition of a small LCD TV for viewing. Into this room and the lounge, the client asked for two SliMP3 units mounted flush in the walls. In the bathroom a TV was requested, to include Sky viewing and remote control.The solution
As the option of pre-wiring during construction was no longer available, we agreed with the client that channelling the cables in the floor was the best option. A wooden floor was to be laid, so the channels could be reasonably deep and wide. Within each room the cables were broken out and then brought up behind the plasterboard wall. All rooms were connected back to the cloakroom where we installed an extractor fan, additional electrics and shelving. No redecorating was necessary despite installing over 35 cables. This cupboard housed the cinema amplifier, two sky boxes, VCR, network switches and ADSL router. A pronto remote control with RF extender was programmed for the lounge and main bedroom, giving control of all of the cupboard based equipment (via RF) and the DVD and CD player housed locally in the lounge. Lounge A Pioneer PDP434 HDE plasma in ‘Piano Black’ was hung on the side wall. The wall was constructed of concrete finished with plasterboard stud work. In order to mount the screen securely we cut out a large piece of the plasterboard and hung the bracket directly onto the concrete wall. This resulted in the plasma appearing to be 50-60mm thinner. Beneath the screen an Artcoustic DF Multi was used to provide the front three channels of cinema audio. This was finished in ebony with a parchment grille to complement the plasma. An M&K sub-woofer was used to provide the low frequency performance and a pair of B&W CCM65s made up the rear channels. The pronto remote control can control the DVD and CD player in the lounge, while controlling the amplifier and Sky boxes via RF in the cupboard hub. A SliMP3 unit was installed flush into the wall near the couch. This was connected back to the cupboard hub, allowing the owner to listen to a vast collection of audio through the Artcoustic speaker. Main Bedroom In the main bedroom, an existing Sony DAV cinema system was installed in a wardrobe. The speakers and an LG LCD TV were mounted with no cabling showing, these were all ran behind the plasterboard walls. Another SliMP3 was wall mounted in this room and could be heard through the DAV unit. The pronto remote could also be used in this room at night or in the mornings to control the cinema system, DVD playback and Sky control. Bathroom We installed a 17” widescreen Aquavision waterproof television into the end wall above the bath. The wall was cut out to allow for the screen to be installed flush with the tiled wall. The low voltage power supply was placed in the ceiling void along with two in-ceiling speakers for the audio. Finally a remote control ‘eye’ was concealed in the extractor fan grill to allow control of Sky. Other rooms The other two bedrooms had Gigabit network and telephone points installed. This included a second line in the smallest bedroom for faxing (as this was used as a Study).
