AVD Awards
2010
- As seen in Perspective Magazine: Room with a View Back Bay Rooftop Theater Creates Outdoor Oasis in the Middle of Boston
- Builders Association of Greater Boston – Prism Award
Best Media Room and Print advertisement, Silver Innovative Housing Technology Award – Overall Integrator Excellence – New England Seaside Home
-
NARI – Anniversary Category (past 25 years) – Silver Award
CE Pro Top 100 Integrators
-
Crestron Diamond Level Dealer
CE Pro Top 100 Integrators
-
Lutron – Platinum Level Dealer
CE Pro Top 100 Integrators
-
Luxury Living Award – Most Beautiful Media Room, Platinum and Gold
-
Lutron – Platinum Level Dealer
CE Pro Top 100 Integrators
-
Crestron Integration Award – Dealers of Distinction
-
Leon Speaker – Platinum Dealer
-
Lutron – Gold Level Dealer
Chose ceiling speakers with a pivoting design for directional flexibility
-
Used an LCD projector that gave us the geometry adjustments to compensate for a short throw distance and steep projection angle
The center-channel speaker that plays behind a virtually invisible screen, painted to match the slate colored wall.
-
A digital light processing projector (DLP) which produce a crisp image, even when the room is brightly lit by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.
-
Motorized drapes to bring the room to total darkness for more serious movie watching.
-
Fully integrated X-Box for big screen video games.
Whole-house audio and video distribution
-
Motorized shades and drapes
-
Automated heating and air conditioning
-
Lighting and fireplace control
-
Alarm and surveillance
Across the tops of Back Bay buildings, the landmark CITGO sign near Fenway Park is
visible in one direction. Turn around, and take in the Hatch Shell on the Charles River.
It is hard to imagine a more quintessentially Boston backdrop.
To capitalize on a view like that, the owner of a penthouse condominium
envisioned transforming his expansive rooftop into an area for entertaining, with music
and an outdoor home theater. Peter Griffin, principal of Woodbourne Builders, took on
the task of turning the vision into reality. He designed a raised cedar deck with built-in
seating and storage, and created a space large enough to accommodate 40 or more people
on a balmy summer night in the city. His design included cabinets that house the speakers
and an LCD screen provided by Audio Video Design, a custom home entertainment and
electronics contractor headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.
“We needed to be involved right from the start of the construction process so we
could place cables and wires underneath the floor, before it was put into place,” says John
Mickelson, a Senior Systems Designer for Audio Video Design. “Peter planned the space
with speakers and a large screen as part of the design, not as an afterthought,” Mickelson
adds.
Griffin says he knows he can depend on Audio Video Design to be completely
knowledgeable about the technology that is appropriate for special situations like this one.
Initially, the homeowner expected to need lots of speakers to fill a large outdoor
area with sound. Mickelson suggested scaling back, and using fewer speakers to create
consistent sound coverage, not just volume.
“I used the analogy of not lighting a large space with intense beams that would be
too bright in some areas and dim in others,” he explains.
Woodbourne built a custom cabinet to house weatherproof Niles speakers and a
46-inch Sunbrite LCD television designed for outdoor use. While the image is visible
even in sunlight, a retractable awning makes daytime viewing even better.
“This television is impervious to rain, dirt, insects and the extremes of New
England weather,” says Mickelson.
“In the summer, everyone in New England wants to be outside,” Mickelson
says. “Often homes have an outdoor entertainment component, which typically consists
of music at the patio or pool,” Mickelson says. “To do this in the city, especially with a
video component, is somewhat of a departure from the usual.”
Like many Bostonians, the owner of the rooftop theater often gathers his friends to
watch sporting events. On game days at Fenway, while they watch home runs on the
outdoor screen, the live cheers of Red Sox fans are close enough to be audible.
2009
Eric Miga - Chief Engineer; Brad Smith - President; Chris Saad - Sales Manager; Bob Gilchrist - Operations Manager
Audio Video Design was recognized for the design and installation of integrated electronics in a fully automated home, meeting the combined expectations of a tech-savvy husband with a keen awareness of environmental efficiency, and the aesthetic expectations of his wife, a talented pianist who enjoys having connoisseur-level music available throughout the house. The homeowners expect LEED certification for their new three-story contemporary home, built in a stunning New England Coastal setting, so AVD designed all integrated electronics with sensitivity to environmental criteria.
The Builders Association of Greater Boston recently recognized Newton-based Audio Video Design with two Prism awards — one for the entertainment and recreation center at a five-building residential compound on Nantucket, and another for a print ad campaign highlighting the company’s work with some of the region’s best architects, builders and designers.
Audio Video Design takes Top Massachusetts position in national industry ranking
The list of the nation’s 100 largest custom home electronics installers, published in this month’s issue of “CE Pro” magazine, includes Audio Video Design of Newton, Osterville and Nantucket. As the 15th largest business of its kind in the country, Audio Video Design is Massachusetts’ largest firm dedicated solely to the custom design, installation and integration of home electronics that include home theater and house-wide music systems, automation, structured wiring, lighting control and security. This is the eleventh straight year that Audio Video Design has been included in the national publication’s “Top 100” list. The 35-year-old company is the oldest custom home electronics firm in New England.
Special Category #1: Anniversary
Whole House: A/V Systems
2008
2007
2006
2005
A Family Recreation Center & a Cool Penthouse Pad
Engineered designs win awards for AVD
The awards and honors keep coming. A theater that serves as focal point of a dynamic family entertainment space took the top prize for Media Room in the latest New England Luxury Living Awards competition. A multi-use theater in a South End penthouse took the second place award in the same category.
The contrast of these two winning media rooms — one designed as a stylized place where family would spend time together, the other created for a successful city-dwelling professional seeking to combine fun with sophistication — shows the versatility of Audio Video Design.
In another competition, a Weston home won first place in for total electronic integration in a prestigious national industry competition.
Gathering in Style
The award-winning family room project was designed in collaboration with D. Michael Collins Architects, Christine Lane Interiors and Conant Construction. Cabinetry and columns surround the theater, which is the centerpiece of an area that also includes ping pong and pool tables, arcade games, and state-of-the-art media technology.
With two teenagers, the owners sought to create a space where the family would spend time together, where the kids would want to bring their friends, and where the parents could enjoy weekend entertaining. They included a wine cellar as well as a golf simulator that makes it possible to play any course in the world — projected on a video screen. A stepped down seating pit and LCD projected 110-inch screen provide a great setting for parties of all sorts, with contemporary red recliners for additional seating.
Taking it to the Top
The owner of the urban penthouse space wanted everything necessary for an exceptional movie theater experience. But in a condo — even one comprised of two units combined into a single luxury home — a dedicated theater was not an option. Audio Video Design engineered a solution using a 52 x 92-inch screen — so large that it had to be delivered to the penthouse by crane — which disappears with the touch of a button. Audio Video Design also engineered a touch panel that controls the projector, lighting, whole-house audio, and motorized drapes, making it possible for this room to do double-duty as a living space and spectacular media room. With a full-sized air hockey table on one side of the room, and city view windows on the other, the space — created in cooperation with Hacin and Associates, Duffy Design Group and Sea-Dar Construction — offers amusement as well as elegance.
Nationally Noted
A Weston client wanted her home to function not only as a personal living space, but also as a place where she could conduct business as a marketing consultant, and as setting for entertainment. Working in partnership with the Audio Video Design team, she selected electronics to support all those distinctive needs, from internet access and TiVo in the dining room that doubles as a conference area, to a cigar ventilation system in the basement media room that doubles as a larger meeting space, with on-screen capabilities via laptop.
This project won a top national award for Integration and Engineered Solutions, in a competition judged by members of the trade press, who made the following comments: “The system design masterfully met the customer’s very specific functional requirements, integrating a wide range of systems on a grand scale, while simultaneously complementing the style and décor of the home.”
With architecture by Luna Design Group, built by Kistler and Knapp, along custom with millwork by Woodmeister, the home makes a statement from the start, with a Versailles-style foyer reflecting the homeowner’s preference for fanciful elegance, with nothing held back. The award winning electronics are an extension of this penchant.
Working with the Room
The platinum award-winning theater space is inviting for kids and dramatic for adults, but the room configuration meant that traditional on-wall or in-wall surround sound speakers were not an option. To meet the challenge, the AVD Design Team
Hidden Assets
The penthouse home, created by connecting two fully finished condominium units, presented some significant logistical challenges — including running wires and cables, and resolving signal issues, with all the components supporting the media room housed in a separate service space. Some of our design and engineering feats included
A movie screen that raises easily into an overhead trap door, revealing a stunning stone fireplace, and the contemporary painting which hangs over it.
Single System Simplicity
The award-winning integrated electronics designed for the Versailles-style Weston residence revolves around a single, user-friendly system that controls
The client asked for the convenience of complete access to the entire system from any location, including the outdoor pool area. AVD technicians created an innovative simple-to-use page on her control panel, displaying all components at once.