HOME CINEMA OF THE YEAR LEVEL II WINNER WAVETRAIN CINEMAS

The odds were stacked high against Wavetrain Cinemas for this home theatre installation. There was no air conditioning in the room, a noisy exhaust fan was ducted right outside, and the ceiling height was just 2.4 metres with several concrete beams that made it feel even smaller. To add to that, the sole inspiration photo these clients had was from Wavetrain’s previous Art Nouveau cinema integration with 3.2-metre ceilings. Before any work could begin, Wavetrain had to be honest with the clients about what would be realistic given the room’s proportions. With new inspiration in mind (stemming from Superman Returns) and a reduced budget, Wavetrain got to work on a plan, producing all the architectural drawings, interior design, mechanical engineering, and acoustic engineering. Once the design portion was down, the clients expressed their desire for the home experience to match that of a commercial cinema — but Wavetrain assured them that it could be even better, and addressed issues in the room by adding speakers and subwoofers to eliminate those problems. One further issue was sound isolation, so the cinema would not impact the lifestyle of the rest of the home. Wavetrain created a cavity and double-layer construction with Green Glue and resilient mounting for the front speakers and subwoofers. CEDIA’s judges commended Wavetrain Cinemas’ ability to work with both monetary and physical limitations. This room also won CEDIA’s ‘Technology Meets Design’ award, which involves architectural professionals in the judging.