Church Square, Shepperton, with the church tower. Photo: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0Designing with the river in mind
The Thames is the reason many people live here, and it shapes how we design. Spelthorne Borough Council notes that around 1,000 homes were flooded by the Thames in 2014, and the River Thames Scheme, which will cut a new flood channel through the borough, aims to reduce risk to around 11,000 homes. We do not assess flood risk for individual homes; the government's long term flood risk service lets you check your own address. What we do is plan the technology so it is easy to protect and easy to recover:
- The main equipment rack and network hub go above floor level, on a first floor or high in a cupboard, rather than in a basement or under the stairs.
- Cinema rooms go in lofts, first floor rooms or extensions where that suits the house.
- Garden and riverside equipment is weatherproof and on its own circuits, so it can be isolated when the river is high.
- Every system is documented, so anything that has to be replaced can be replaced like for like.
From our Walton-on-Thames projectHow do you get Wi-Fi to the water?
Many riverside gardens are long, with the best spot for sitting out at the far end, next to the water. Wi-Fi from the house rarely reaches it well. We run a wired or fibre link down the garden and install proper access points, the same approach we used to connect a garden room in Thames Ditton more than 70 metres from the house. For how we plan coverage from the front door to the far end of the garden, see data and Wi-Fi networks. Once the network is there, outdoor AV follows: weatherproof screens on a terrace, speakers along the lawn, and music that follows you from the kitchen to the riverbank through our multi-room audio.
From our Walton-on-Thames projectConservation areas and listed riverside homes
Spelthorne has eight conservation areas, including Lower Sunbury, Shepperton and Lower Halliford, and 198 listed buildings. In a conservation area the council has extra control over things such as demolition, telecommunications equipment and work to trees, so external cameras, aerials, dishes and garden structures may need a conversation with Spelthorne's planning team first. If your house is listed, internal work can need consent too. We will flag anything that looks likely to need permission, but the decision is always the council's.
Our demonstration cinema in Walton-on-ThamesA cinema room close to home
Shepperton has its own screen history, with Shepperton Studios in neighbouring Littleton. Our closest published room is just across the river: a media room renovation in Walton-on-Thames, where we replaced three separate remotes with one Control4 system, fitted Paradigm speakers in a 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos layout behind an acoustically transparent screen and in the ceiling, and added a Sony 4K laser projector and Lutron HomeWorks lighting. A professionally designed small cinema room typically costs £15,000 to £25,000 fully installed.
Our demonstration cinema is a short drive away. Book a showroom visit, or book a free design consultation and we will come to you.
