Westgate House

Shared-use Cinema | Luxury Cinema

We were appointed to design a luxurious shared-use cinema in a next-generation residential development in Ealing, West London working to a very short deadline.

Building Contractor

O’Shea on behalf of Galliard Homes

Specialist Subcontractors

Loop3
Hollis Rouse

Specialist Seating

Infinity Seating

The Brief

Having worked with the building contractor before, we were appointed to design and install a turnkey shared-use cinema within a very tight timeframe. We were commissioned because of our knowledge and expertise in the design and installation of luxury bespoke home cinemas and because we could provide assurances that we would meet the pressing deadline without compromising on quality.

The Project

Westgate House, based in Ealing, West London is a stylish residential development aimed at first or second-time buyers and professionals seeking a luxury pied-a-terre, with many communal amenities.

Opening into a large glass foyer, the multifunctional development has a concierge team, an open plan workspace, a fully equipped gym, sauna and steam room and a top-floor communal sky lounge with open terraces. Our task was to produce a state-of-the-art shared-use cinema for up to 10 people in the basement of the development, which could then be booked by residents via the concierge team.

The shared-use Cinema

We were given six weeks to fit out the room from scratch, but with complete ownership of the design work. This was extensive to ensure seamless on-site coordination. Working with our highly competent subcontractor, we knew they would take our information and execute it to plan, which they did.

We had complete ownership of the room design, with client sign-off on finishes, materials and costs. The room was already formed and all acoustic construction works had been completed by the principal contractor prior to Cornflake taking occupancy of the room. We added further foam absorption panels installed in key areas to improve sound characteristics, and stretched fabric to cover the walls and ceiling to conceal the speakers and acoustic treatments.

We optimised the space we had to provide the greatest number of seats for a high-level performance. However, there were services running though the room serving other areas of the development. We therefore had to design the tiered seating stages to avoid clashing with the pipework running through the floor.

Because this was a shared-use communal space, our focus was to make this a highly functional and accessible cinema, yet easy to maintain at a price point that met the developer’s budget. Working with the specialist cinema seating provider, we opted for comfortable, practical and easy to clean fixed-chassis customised seating and accessories for the first two rows. The third rear row of seats were supplied on castors so that they could be easily removed to accommodate wheelchair users.

We also ensured that residents were going to have a fantastic cinema experience that was going to be easy to operate. The system was designed around a bring your own device or content principle, which is becoming popular in the hospitality sector. This allows residents to stream their own content from providers such as Netflix, Amazon prime or Curzon Home Cinema using their own accounts, which avoids any licensing issues. In addition, they can provide their own curated content to celebrate a big birthday or anniversary.

To make the cinema room completely immersive we supplied a scene-set wireless lighting control solution with downlights, floor washes, and feature lighting. For this, we supplied a template-driven Control4 system for easy adjustment of lighting scenes. Using Dynaudio speakers and subwoofers, we specified a 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos configuration of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers that offer the best acoustic performance for the size of the space. In addition, we supplied a fixed frame projector screen with micro perforations to allow LCR speakers to be hidden behind the screen and a high brightness projector by Epsom to bring the full cinema experience to life.

The entire design and fit came in one budget and in-time within six weeks.

The Finer Details

We curate every project using smart home technologies from leading global industry partners.

Treated surfaces optimise the Dolby Atmos Surround Sound experience with all stretched fabric hiding speaker technology

High-brightness 4K projector and 3.2m wide acoustically transparent screen for a high- impact images

Bring-your-own-device/content to sign in or watch subscription services via airplay; as well as HDMI connectivity for peripheral devices

Intuitive touchscreen controls for selecting content, transport controls and volume.

Scene set lighting control for the perfect ambience

Fully acoustically treated cinema space, with isolation materials and acoustic doors to prevent sound escape

Supply and fitting of all interior items: joinery, carpet, seating and stretched fabric wall/ceiling finishes and decorative light fittings

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Testimonial

"We are working with Cornflake on a number of schemes concurrently across a broach spectrum of skillsets, disciplines and contract values. Regardless of the scope, Cornflake’s approach is uniform: execute and deliver a well- considered design within aggressive time and budget constraints. The end results consistently exceed expectations and their value-add is unquestionable."