Creating a room large enough for a home theater not only depends on width and length, but height as well. So what do you do when your ceiling is too low to accommodate three rows of seats and appropriate sightlines to each? For Pacific Audio & Communications, the answer was to start digging. In order to provide adequate sightlines to the 11.5-foot 1.78:1 Stewart Filmscreen, Pacific Audio & Communications had to recess the floor 38.75 inches- a little over three feet. But it wasn't as easy as simply getting out the shovel the company had to integrate the new plan into construction documents for approval by the city, verify the ground water level, and determine whether or not the whole thing was possible foundationally. After the green light was given, the company wate rproofed the recessed shell for good measure.

The homeowners' mandate that the theater be high-performance called for a Runco VX2C projector. The homeowners' other mandate that all the gear be hidden required Pacific to get creative when housing this behemoth 3-chip OLP. "The projector made some noise and required ventilation," says Pacific. "Placing the projector within correct vertical offset , putting the screen in the appropriate ve1tical viewing angles, and keeping the projected light pattern clear of interference was a balancing act that we accomplished using 3D CAD for the modeling."

The projector enclosure is an isolated, decoupled design with specially designed ventilation that steers air directly into the projector chassis to ensure proper ventilation. Of course, looking at images of the theater, the first thing you notice isn't the projector or the height of the ceiling. It's the design aesthetic that sets it apart. The mountain lodge home in the Lake Tahoe area called for a theater that matched. Massive rough hewn lumber, stone, hardwood floors and hand-applied plaster accomplish the effect. "By planning ahead and integrating the acoustical modeling results with the desired interior style, we were able to create a Lodge Theater," says Pacific. The ceiling height did not allow vaulted beams, so the company designed knee braces with cross beams that tied into the stone-clad columns. The hand-applied old-world-style acoustic plaster is both a stylistic element and acoustical treatment! Now that's form following function.