Suburban Philadelphia Home - September 2003 - page 2
The scope of the project was going to be huge in order to make the client’s dreams come true. This would be quite a task, as over the last 100 years, the basement had deteriorated into a level of moderate disrepair (see photos). More importantly, the height of older basements in the Philadelphia area appear to have been designed specifically for dwarves, thus the floor would need to be cut to add needed vertical space to the room. It was clear this was going to be a bigger project than installing a DLP theater into a new basement, but the client was as enthusiastic as ever at the first project meeting, so Platt and his system engineer went back to the offices to draw up a plan and a bid that would transform a dreary basement into a stunning screening room.
Soundex is best known for their decades of ultra-high-end audio sales, but today their business focuses more and more on incredibly creative installations in their region. This project would test the limits of Soundex’s staff and system installer Peter Hischmann who was orignally hired by the client before going to Soundex to shop for gear. In fact, Hischmann's basement installation inspired the Soundex to employ him as a full-time project manager. Hischmann handled the construction and overall implementation of the theater over the course of 18 months. The first river to cross was making sure that the house would be stable as four feet of depth was cut into the basement. With the help of structural engineers, the floor was lowered and the walls were solidified and in fact doubled in order to prevent moisture from seeping from outside into the soon-to-be gorgeous theater.
Another design problem with the room was HVAC. Basements in homes built around 1900 tend to smell funky at best, and at worst can be host to dangerous radon gas, which can cause cancer and other health problems. Soundex was responsible for tasks usually handled by a contractor – the design and implementation of a completely separate heating and cooling system for the room that keeps the temperature constant and more importantly, keeps the often oppressive humidity down to a comfortable level. Both the AV electronics and the guests are thankful that the room is an oasis from the incredible heat and humidity of the Philadelphia summers and is a toasty get-away from freezing winters. Additional plumbing was added to install a basement bathroom and significant electrical work was added to the home’s overall system so that the theater and all of its associated elements (video projectors, lighting, control systems and more) had enough juice to power up.
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Soundex is best known for their decades of ultra-high-end audio sales, but today their business focuses more and more on incredibly creative installations in their region. This project would test the limits of Soundex’s staff and system installer Peter Hischmann who was orignally hired by the client before going to Soundex to shop for gear. In fact, Hischmann's basement installation inspired the Soundex to employ him as a full-time project manager. Hischmann handled the construction and overall implementation of the theater over the course of 18 months. The first river to cross was making sure that the house would be stable as four feet of depth was cut into the basement. With the help of structural engineers, the floor was lowered and the walls were solidified and in fact doubled in order to prevent moisture from seeping from outside into the soon-to-be gorgeous theater.
Another design problem with the room was HVAC. Basements in homes built around 1900 tend to smell funky at best, and at worst can be host to dangerous radon gas, which can cause cancer and other health problems. Soundex was responsible for tasks usually handled by a contractor – the design and implementation of a completely separate heating and cooling system for the room that keeps the temperature constant and more importantly, keeps the often oppressive humidity down to a comfortable level. Both the AV electronics and the guests are thankful that the room is an oasis from the incredible heat and humidity of the Philadelphia summers and is a toasty get-away from freezing winters. Additional plumbing was added to install a basement bathroom and significant electrical work was added to the home’s overall system so that the theater and all of its associated elements (video projectors, lighting, control systems and more) had enough juice to power up.