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CASE
STUDY
BESPOKE PLASMA LIFT |
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Project Overview
This subject is a contemporary
new single story wing of a 19th Century Gothic Mansion
located in Weetwood, North Leeds.
The Brief
The client (a fine art and
ancient antiquities dealer) required everything to
be completely discreet. He also commissioned us to
design and manufacture, a bespoke macassar ebony cabinet
to house all the equipment and the plasma screen.
This is part of a larger
multiroom project.
Budget
Approximately £25,000
to £50,000.
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Stunning
50" Fujitsu Plasma
Given the size of the room,
and the light conditions, a 50" Fujitsu Plasma screen
was chosen. Fujitsu screens are largely accepted as providing
the very best picture quality for all the displays currently
on the market. This, combined with the Sky High Definition
source provides some incredible visual results.
The thin piano black bezel has a sleek, elegant appearance
totally in harmony with the existing character of the room.
The Monitor Audio Gold front speakers are recessed flush
within the cabinet. They have custom made cloth grills fitted
over the speakers to match the dark grain of the wood.
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James
Bond Style Plasma Lift
The Future Automation plasma lift
keeps the screen completely hidden when not in use. With
one button press on the remote control, the plasma screen
switches off and quietly descends into the cabinet. The
lip then comes up to seal the top of the cabinet completely
flush (see below) with the grain of the wood running through
perfectly.
This was the perfect solution to a discreet system without
having the traditional inconvenience of opening and closing
cabinet doors.
Unlike plasma lifts from other manufacturers, the Future
Automation lift allows the screen to sit without a wooden
hat on top. Instead the lip retracts into the cabinet when
the screen rises. |
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Bespoke
Designed Cabinet
Given the clients passion for fine furnishings, the cabinet
that we were commissioned to design and build had to be
something quite special. The client requested explicitly
that we use Macassar Ebony to match the wood elsewhere in
the lounge.
This called for the fine craftsmanship of Bernhard Hobson
Woodworking. Balancing the clients aesthetic demands, our
technical requirements and the woodworking build constraints
a fine piece of furniture was produced which exceeded the
clients expectations. |
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Music and Video
'On Tap'
The iDyl Media server with a massive 3TB
of storage stores hundreds of DVDs and CDs on the system.
This means that without leaving the chaise-longue, the client
can browse through his entire DVD collection on screen and
start any one of hundreds of movies at the touch of a button.
The media server also stores images which
can be set to play as a slide show. To make optimum use
of this facility we transferred pictures of all the clients
antiquities to the server so these cycle through on screen
it is when not in use.
The RAID protection guards against any data loss so if the
unit fails, all the precious movies, music and digital photos
are completely protected.
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Discreetly Hidden
Equipment
The function of the cabinet is to keep
all the equipment completely hidden when not in use. The
design of the cabinet has achieved this while allowing easy
access for changing CDs and videos.
A customised cooling system has also been added to the cabinet
so that two silent running fans turn on automatically when
the equipment is in use. This ensures that all the equipment
can operate at optimum level.
A Pioneer DV868 DVD player, combined with a Harmon Kardon
AVR630 amplifier generates stunning imagery with acoustic
effects to match.
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High Quality
Surround Speakers
The Monitor Audio Gold rear speakers are perfectly matched
with the front speakers and also complement the design of
the light fittings. Given the size of the room it was important
to choose a speaker that would fill the room with a full bodied
sound.
All cables were run during the build phase so they are completely
hidden. Additional cables were run in the ceiling so that
a projector and discreet automated projector drop could be
added with minimal disruption at a later date.
A Triad subwoofer with a separate
amplifier was built into the cabinet with a ported bass hole.
This avoided the inconvenience of having a separate subwoofer
box located elsewhere in the room.
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Effortless Blind and Lighting Control
Using automated blinds the ten floor to ceiling blinds in
this room are very simple to control. The lounge and dining
area blinds can be operated either independently or simultaneously,
using the single pronto remote control.
Useful 'intelligent' features have been incorporated into
the system so that when the house alarm is set, all the blinds
close automatically and the lights are switched off.
Alternatively, the control can be set to 'holiday' mode having
learned their normal daily sequence the control, will replicate
this while the client is away in their holiday home in Tuscany. |
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