Most families are too active these days to close themselves off in a separate room to watch TV, so it’s no surprise that built-in TV screens are showing up all over the house. But no one wants to see all of the boxes, control panels, and cords that accompany increasingly sleek televisions. Custom built-ins to house these devices must take into account utility as much as design.
Master Media Watching late-night programming in bed is a common luxury, but putting a set on the dresser didn’t exactly fit with architect Robert Gurney’s vision for this urbane remodel. He mounted the television to a wall bracket, with vertical louvers venting the tubes and bridging the gap between the steel surround and the curved wall. A raw steel box hangs from the mahogany wedge and holds added components like a DVD player. A small stereo above enhances the sound. The cantilevered desk continues through a mahogany-wrapped column and widens into a computer station. Builder: M.T. Puskar Construction, Alexandria, Va.; Architect: Robert M. Gurney, Architect, Alexandria; Photographer: Maxwell MacKenzie.
High-Tech Corridor The owner of this Des Moines, Iowa, home really wanted to highlight his high-tech television’s slim profile, but preferred to keep components out of sight. Architect Channing Swanson placed the slender plasma TV directly above the fireplace, where he could “concentrate two big points of focus.” Perforated stainless steel doors hide the components but are acoustically open, explains Swanson, and allow the infrared signal through. By specing a tight pattern of tiny holes, Swanson created an opaque look. The big secret behind these closed doors is that the cabinets are framed in wood and wrapped in stainless sheets—a clever way to give the budget a break. Builder: Dean Paulsen & Sons, Des Moines, Iowa; Architect: Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture, Des Moines; Photographer: Farshid Assassi.
