Point of view

Custom Home, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Leslie Ensor

Home theater designer Theo Kalomirakis unraveled a knotty problem in this Jupiter, Fla., home. His solution was elegant enough to take the Best Home Theater Architecture award in the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association's (CEDIA's) 2003 Designers' Choice competition.

The home theater in the new custom home had a bizarre, five-sided shape and a 15-foot ceiling that was higher than the room was wide. Fortunately, Kalomirakis joined the job before the drywall was installed. He straightened the space out by using its angled part as a lobby. "A theater needs symmetry for viewing," he says, and it needs a lobby. "It adds to the illusion that you leave the house and go to a movie."

To improve the tall room acoustically, Kalomirakis lowered the ceiling with a series of dropped acoustical panels that act like diffusers and hide the big ceiling-hung projector. The clients' desire for a warm wood decor added to the acoustical challenge. Kalomirakis used wood sparingly, because it is acoustically reflective, but to great effect in a series of art deco columns flanking acoustical panels.