The owners of this central New Jersey home were already planning a basement home theater, so their new sunroom didn’t need a soup-to-nuts entertainment system. They did, however, want a plasma TV. The problem was, the sunroom’s design was so spare and modern that any visible electronics equipment would appear out of place.
So Bob Gullo, president of systems designer and installer Electronics Design Group, planned a stealthy way for the clients’ 50-inch plasma to enter and leave the room. He worked with architect Klesse Associates to enlarge the 4-foot space beneath the floorboards so that it could hold a double-lift system containing the TV, center channel, and subwoofer. At the touch of a remote keypad the entire slim setup rises up through an innocuous-looking floorboard, fitting perfectly into the room’s fireplace. When the owners are finished watching, they simply touch the keypad again and any trace of electronics vanishes below the polished floor. The simple yet sophisticated solution won Best Hidden Installation in CEDIA’s 2003 Electronic Lifestyles Awards.
Builder: Nu Phase Builders, Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Architect: Klesse Associates, Short Hills, N.J.; Installer: Electronics Design Group, Piscataway, N.J.; Interior designer: E. Jeanne Costine Interior Design, Monmouth Beach, N.J.; Photographer: William J. Psolka.
