Epsom High Street at the Ashley Road and Waterloo Road junction. Photo: DimiTalen, CC0What did we build for an Epsom family of football fans?
Our published Epsom project started with a problem most families will recognise. The household, Manchester United supporters, had a TV system that looked fine but sounded muddy, and it never felt like an event. They wanted one room that could handle the highs and lows of a match, a film night and a gaming session, with a sports bar feel and controls simple enough for everyone.
The room was narrow, so we placed the seating carefully to give every seat a good view. An 85 inch Sony TV was recessed into the wall for a flush finish, and the AV equipment was hidden in bespoke storage. Poor sound clarity was fixed at source with acoustic panelling and an Anthem MRX740 receiver driving 5.1 surround sound. A sports bar went into the corner. The client told us: "The picture quality is outstanding, the sound is immersive, and the entire system is incredibly intuitive to use." The full write-up is on our Epsom media room and sports bar project page.
From our Epsom projectHow do you design a room for match day as well as film night?
With lighting and light control as much as with speakers. In the Epsom room, a single control pad adjusts the brightness and colour of the LED lighting and the AV, and QMotion blackout blinds on the same pad take the daylight out for a film or leave it in for a lunchtime kick-off. The lighting runs on Lutron RA2, and Control4 ties it all together, so the family presses one button rather than juggling remotes.
That is the thinking behind most of the media rooms we design: a room you actually live in, with modes you can switch between.
- Match mode: lights up enough to see the sofa and the bar, screen at full brightness, sound at the level of a crowd
- Film mode: blinds down, low-level lighting only, dialogue clear at a sensible volume
- Everyday: normal lighting, TV and music on the same remote
From our Epsom projectWhat are Epsom's homes like to work in?
Epsom has several distinct kinds of house, and each needs a different approach. Merchants built large mansions on the edge of town when the spa grew from the 1670s. After enclosure in 1869, terraced housing spread along Burgh Heath, College and Worple Roads, where a narrow plan leaves less room to hide cables and equipment. Between the wars the council built around 1,500 homes, and more recently around 1,850 new homes have been created on the sites of the five former psychiatric hospitals that closed in the 1990s and 2000s.
In a terrace, a media room with in-wall speakers and a TV wall usually makes more sense than a full cinema. In a larger detached house off the Downs, a dedicated cinema room can be realistic. In a converted flat, we start with what the building and your lease allow.
Our demonstration cinema in Walton-on-ThamesWhich conservation area are you in?
Quite possibly one of them: Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has 21 conservation areas. In Epsom they include the Town Centre, Church Street, Stamford Green, Woodcote, the Downs Road Estate, College Road, Worple Road and Burgh Heath Road, and the Hospital Cluster areas at Horton, Long Grove, The Manor, St Ebba's and West Park. The council also has Article 4 Directions in some of them. Before anything goes on the outside of your home, from an aerial to a camera, check with the council.
Epsom is best known for the Downs, where the Derby was first run in 1780 and much of the land is open to the public. It is also about 6.1 miles in a straight line from our showroom, where you can hear a Lyngdorf 7.2.2 system and try Control4 for yourself. We are a Platinum Control4 dealer, winner of the Control4 Circle of Excellence award in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and specialists in Lutron lighting control. Book a showroom visit before the next big match, or book a free design consultation at home.
