Craftsman-style Centerpiece Home Theater

       The centerpiece of the Michigan Estate home’s extensive basement remodel, this Craftsman-style theater is among the first 9.2.4 Dolby Atmos theaters in the upper Midwest. Like many lower-level renovations, designing a dedicated home theater into a space that’s already been framed-out represents challenges, but this one had a hallway running through the middle of it! The design teams and discerning homeowner overcame the challenges, implementing custom barn doors, disguised as walls, that slide open to reveal a hip, urban Rec Room for all ages.

Defining a space to accommodate the desired theater design and seating requirements took some ingenuity and extensive collaboration between the builder, interior designer, Automation Design + Entertainment and the homeowner. The area offering the ceiling height needed to accommodate the risers was located directly beneath the main living area. To isolate the sound from the floor above, as well as into the adjacent areas, Kinetics Noise Control Acoustic treatments were installed.

Not to be upstaged by its sleek design, the theater boasts an impressive audio, video and lighting experience. The homeowner had auditioned Dolby Atmos in Automation Design + Entertainment’s Lifestyle Showroom and had to have it! It features Bowers & Wilkins speakers throughout, including surrounds hidden within the custom proscenium and screen wall, all driven by Pioneer Elite. A Sony 4K projector displays onto a 2:3:5 format Screen Innovations backlit screen.

The room features eight custom Fortress theater chairs, along with four stools at the granite bar top on the top tier. Lutron Radio RA2 controls the risers’ step lights, proscenium sconces, the screen’s backlight, two zones of can lighting for the upper and lower levels, walkway lighting and cove lighting that casts blacklight onto the theater’s signature feature, a custom-painted mural of the constellations.