Has anyone got any layouts for a 10' x 12' room I can look at?

Hi All,

In just over a month we will close escrow on our 'forever' home, and after 10 or more years of dreaming I will be getting my own space to dedicate to a home theater, arcade & bar. Although construction may not start for another year I am extremely excited so I can't help but start going over design ideas.

My actual space will be used as a small bar (I brew my own beer) combined with a lobby and arcade area (I design, build & restore arcade machines) which will lead into the home theater through a double wall staggered entry.

Space is limited, so that actual floor area of the room that I will be using for the HT is currently 12' x 10' with standard walls.

I'd really like to be able to seat 6 people in 2 rows of three with stadium elevation and have a kids pillow area down at the front. My plan is to use the 12' length for the throw, encapsulate the PJ at the back of the room over the entrance hallway (which is not part of the 12' x 10') and have an almost wall-to-wall screen of approx 9'8" horizontal width.

I want to do sound isolation and have columns along the length of the room for decor and housing of 7.1 speakers. My AV closet will reside in the staggered hallway so it wont have to fit within the 12x10. I'm trying to work out aisle widths, whether to have one or two, down the middle or the sides etc and how to deal with stepping up to the back row of seats safely without losing extra width to railings etc.

If anyone else has worked in a similar space I would love to see what you did.

I'll post some renderings and floorplanns of of the space when I can.

Joel

Here's a few layouts so you can see what I have to work with. I am limited by existing structure and available space to build. The space for the movie room already exists as part of the house, the arcade and bar will be an extension that I am squeezing into the corner of the lot in a space constricted by an existing in-ground swimming pool. So I just have to find a way to work with what I have




Edited by griffindodd - 1/24/13 at 2:03pm

Yeah I figured the soundproofing would be an issue, I'm just so in love with that staggered entry look, but I guess if I have to lose it to more practical concerns then that's what I will have to do. The entry path was also going to house a big beautiful AV closet to the right of the entrance with tinited glass door, rack and ohhhh soooo many flashy lights.
Edited by griffindodd - 1/24/13 at 2:11pm

Well this rarely happens. Turns out I had completely the wrong number in my head for the HT space, it was in fact 10x16 not 10x12. However I went in and removed the staggered hallway and moved things around a little. If I can get away with a 14x10 room then I can also have almost the same for the arcade and bar giving me space to comfortably fit in 9 full size cabinets.

And if I tighten up the arcade, drop down to 8 cabinets and share the walkway space then I can grab almost 16' for the theater, this is better.

Hi all, thanks for all of the feedback so far, it is helping a lot.

Good point on the AC and something I will definitely keep in mind, fortunately I live in San Diego so temperatures are much easier to manage than many other places in the country.

Thanks for the sketches with moving things around. Unfortunately the bar has to be where i have it as it serves as an indoor and outdoor bar to the pool area, the windows to the outside will be fold-away screen windows that will open the whole bar to the counters on the window ledges nearest the pool.

Played around some more and I'm here so far...

Theater is 15ft deep, hallway is 27" and steps up to 16" before entering the theater. The stadium platforms are at 16" and 8". Back row eyeballs should be at about 14.5' from the screen, first row about 12'. Currently we watch a 140" 16:9 screen in the basement at about 14' and have never considered it too big or overwhelming.

Next revision.

Decided I had to have a pee-closet in that area, so I added that to the design. Down to 6 arcade machines now, but that's still fine, plenty of fun still to be had there and a good use of shared space in the arcade for general foot traffic.

In the HT room the entrance passage steps up to 20" then the room walkway is 27" stepping down in 6" drops to 8" for the front row and then to ground level. The front row of recliner seating for 3 as recommended with 4 seats of traditional seating behind. Front row eyeballs are 10 feet from the screen, back row 14 feet, I can always reduce the screen size a little if it's too overwhelming but I do love the 'immersion' feel of 1:1 viewing distances.

This is a very good point, I'm going to chew on this a bit

BigMouth's point was well received, something I hadn't thought about. So I went back and built out this version which is making a lot more sense. Now i still have the indoor/outdoor bar but it works as more a part of the social/family area. We have a small pee room for recycling all those home made beers which is also in very close proximity to the arcade and theater. The theater room is nwo a respectful 16ft long giving us that oh so important extra few feet of eyeball room.

And this my friends is why I love communities of similar minded creative people...





Edited by griffindodd - 1/25/13 at 4:05pm

Yep point understood on the AC. In the arcade room I think I may add high windows that tilt open to aid the issue, fortunately we are installing solar on the house so that will take care of the AC bills.

If I can manage to push the addition out to 12ft wide at least for the bathroom and arcade than I can get some nice space benefits, in the arcade 10 standard cabs and one sit down or a pinball machine. One of my big goals is to own an Addams Family pinball, so it would take pride of place in the middle of the arcade for sure, if not an Addams family then a Star Wars cockpit, either way they would occupy the same space.

Holy Crap Jautor, I just looked at the picture gallery of your build, absolutely exquisite, beautiful, stunning, elegant, wonderful!!!!! Well done sir that is something to be extremely proud of without question. As I get my dimensions locked in then I can really start to focus on the details. I am very tempted to recreate a Star Wars style theater, just for the hell of it, and the opportunity to create something way beyond the norm. I get so much from user communities and swear by them when advising others who want to take on projects after seeing mine. It was the same story when I got into designing and building arcade machines, I just immersed myself in the community, absorbed their advice and shared projects and then went about making my own build. 6 months later I have been nominated for the 2012 full size cab of the year award by the community, an honor to be recognized by your peers that I hold in high regard.

Link here for those interested... http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,121570.0.html



So, if I continue to listen to my peers here and absorb all of the great information from those that have gone before me then I know I can build a great theater, who knows, maybe even something like this...

It's by a company called Chief Architect, they have a bunch of different packages that do similar stuff, depends on the level of expertise you require. I just like to use it to do general layout and artists impressions rather than specific build details.

Not sure yet, we're having the company come in and do a site survey in a month or so.

Yes I had to go for off center as I only have room for one aisle, but the angle of view is so shallow it's not something that is a deal killer.

Sounds like we are facing very similar issues. I'm a pretty experienced designer (although not in home theater) so I'm good with space and form. I may have to rely on some optical tricks to get the feel I want in the space I have available but that's all the fun of the process. I won't really know what I can get away with until I speak with my contractor closer to the date and understand what kind of space I can eek out, who knows I may be able to push a wall an extra two feet wide but I have to watch out for easement and zoning issues. I've even considered just pushing the top of the wall out so that it 'overhangs' the structural wall and sinking the screen into that area, but until I know my physical barriers it's all theory for now.