The Multipurpose Media Room

A media room can take many forms. It can resemble a movie theater, a combination family/TV room, or a game room with pool tables, video games and multiple TVs. For homeowners with no space to spare for a dedicated home theater, designing a multipurpose family or game room is the popular choice.

Home technology is in more demand than ever. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, sales of consumer electronics will grow 8 percent in 2006 and 6 percent in 2007 as home sales are predicted to slide. For home technology, triple-digit growth was seen between 2004 and 2005 in purchases of lighting controls, home automation and energy management, based on a CEA survey of 998 adults who purchased or planned to purchase a new home in the previous or subsequent 12 months.

The CEA survey also reveals that for home buyers who did not purchase a multiroom audio system or a home theater system, 23 percent say they regret that decision. In addition, only 60 percent of home automation systems and 43 percent of home theater systems were installed during construction of the new home. The remaining systems were installed within a year of construction, to which the CEA reminds builders they are missing out on sales opportunities in these product areas.

Sight, light and height

Builders and architects might not always ask a customer enough questions, or the right questions, and end up with a media room that is not designed for how the customer actually will use it, says Clinton Howell, general manager/founder, Howell and Associates in Burlington, Ontario. “Above all a media room has to be functional. Builders and designers must think about the intended functionality, and plan around how many people will be in the room at once, or at most. For example, provide quality seating with good viewing angles.”

Any multipurpose room by its nature will have a pathway through it, so it’s important to position the main traffic route at the back of a room so people don’t walk in front of the screen, says Josh Christian, vice president of marketing, DSI Entertainment Systems in Studio City, Calif. Open archways and doorways should be eliminated, and doors should be installed as a way to close off the room, he adds.

Sight lines are important in media rooms so a specific approach is taken for creating them, says Scott Sullivan, president, Soundvision in Novato, Calif. “In a dedicated theater, we dictate where people sit, the screen size and its location, and then we tell a designer to design around our plans because first and foremost, watching movies is the purpose of the room. Whereas in a family room that also serves as the media room, the client dictates what the room looks like. Then I lobby for changes that make the media experience better in that room. But ultimately we take a designer’s concept and integrate my design into their concept.”

In family rooms that double as media rooms, typically homeowners want a plasma over the fireplace. In these situations, Sullivan drops everything as low as he can, including the fireplace and, preferably, eliminates the mantel because in a perfect world the TV should be 28 in. above the floor, he says. “I want to pull that stuff down to get it as low as possible because you’ll be in here watching TV and the height will annoy you. And tilting it will not fix the problem. Based on human ergonomics, with the head level and eyes looking up, it’ll be five minutes before you’re falling asleep.”

Sight lines are directly related to the layout of the room and furniture placement within it, says Bob Foust, vice president, Electronic Creations in Orlando, Fla., but so is lighting control, which a builder might not consider. Incoming light through windows can wash out a TV picture, he explains. “You can address this by making sure windows are located so they don’t create glare on the screen. But many people don’t do this because of the level of flexibility required, so we can add motorized shades or window treatments that block out the sunlight. These treatments can be made invisible so they are stealth-operated.”