When Monitor Audio set out to create a new Experience Centre at its headquarters in Rayleigh, Essex, the objective was clear: to build a space that would redefine how the brand is experienced by integrators, designers, architects and clients, while authentically demonstrating its expertise and range of high performance audio capabilities in home cinema, media and listening room and outdoor entertainment space applications.
To deliver this vision, Monitor Audio entrusted local CEDIA member, The Cinema Company, with the project, a company renowned for its custom design and installation services. What followed was an impressive collaboration that has completely transformed underused spaces and rooms in Rayleigh into a state-of-the-art, fully immersive, multi-zone showcase for the brand.
The Experience Centre was required to fulfil several roles at once. It firstly needed to operate as a reference-level demonstration space for both cinema and music, while also embodying Monitor Audio’s distinctive design language, heritage and engineering ethos. Additionally, the Experience Centre was intended to serve as a hub for training and education. Seamless integration with lighting, blinds, AV distribution and control systems throughout was essential.
Concept and Design Approach
From the outset, Monitor Audio provided high-level creative direction. For the cinema space, the brief was to remain visually aligned with the Monitor Audio brand. For the music suite, the inspiration was ‘the interior of a Porsche’, engineered, refined and purposeful without feeling overly technical.
This open brief allowed The Cinema Company to take a holistic role encompassing cinema design, acoustic engineering, interior concepting and project coordination. The concept and design brief were understood perfectly by the team and 3D visualisations were developed and approved on the first presentation, allowing them to move quickly into the construction phase.
It was clear that the build would require close co-ordination between the architect, builder, electrician, HVAC and joinery contractors, with The Cinema Company acting as overall project manager.
The build was situated within an active warehouse, which posed considerable acoustic isolation challenges and necessitated a room-within-a-room construction method to maintain performance integrity.
The cinema and music suite were constructed as fully isolated rooms within the warehouse shell. Walls approaching 600mm in depth, multiple material layers and specialist construction techniques were employed to mitigate external noise from warehouse operations and ensure consistent acoustic performance.
The Cinema Room
The Cinema Room was meticulously designed to function at reference performance levels, offering the flexibility to showcase a variety of system scales and budgets. Among its standout features are Monitor Audio Cinergy Series loudspeakers, strategically positioned for the front, surround, and rear channels. The room also boasts sixteen 15-inch subwoofers, arranged in a mirrored front-and-rear layout, with advanced WaveForming optimisation developed in partnership with Trinnov. This configuration enables multiple operational modes, allowing demonstrations using 2, 4, 8, or 16 subwoofers to suit different requirements. The visual experience is enhanced by a Sony professional cinema projector and a large-format Cinema Build Systems projection screen, both complemented by acoustically transparent fabrics and track systems throughout the space. The seating is provided by Infinity Seating, which is hand-crafted in the UK, ensuring optimum comfort and luxury. The entire system was engineered to meet CEDIA’s RP22 Recommended Practice guidelines, with the final calibration executed in collaboration with Trinnov’s engineering team.
The Music Suite
In contrast to the Cinema Room, the Music Suite was conceived to evoke the atmosphere of a genuine, high-end living space, abstaining from an overtly treated studio aesthetic. Taking inspiration from the engineered elegance of a Porsche interior, the timeless design incorporates dark greens, deep blacks and rich walnut for a subtly luxurious space.
Acoustic treatment was thoughtfully and discreetly integrated, utilising recessed ceiling diffusers, a sculptural 3D parametric rear wall for diffusion, as well as soft furnishings and suede finishes to replicate the acoustics typically found in residential environments and mirror the premium Porsche upholsteries.
This room also features Monitor Audio’s flagship Hyphn loudspeakers, paired with high-end amplification and premium cabling, enabling critical listening in a setting that authentically reflects how clients experience music in their own homes.
Beyond Cinema and Music
The Experience Centre offers much more than the two principal rooms, with it incorporating a range of additional spaces designed to enhance the visitor journey. Among these is a Brand Immersion Gallery that guides visitors through Monitor Audio’s heritage and evolution, while dedicated training and presentation areas support education and professional development.
The lounge and reception zones are fully equipped with distributed audio to create a welcoming atmosphere, and the entire building is illuminated by multi-zone lighting, featuring sophisticated DMX control and colour-tunable LED systems. All these systems are seamlessly integrated via Control4, ensuring intuitive management of audio, video, lighting, and blinds throughout the facility.
“Working with Monitor Audio on their Experience Centre has been a fantastic experience and a real honour to have been asked to deliver it. From start to finish, the collaboration has been excellent. We never felt like we were delivering to a client; the relationship was such that we were one team, working towards the same goals. Absolutely everyone was welcoming, knowledgeable and clearly passionate, and it is evident that everyone loves being a part of it. We’re proud to have played our part,” explains James Brown, Managing Director of The Cinema Company.
Built with Tomorrow in Mind
The completed Experience Centre offers much more than a conventional showroom, providing Monitor Audio with a certified environment for demonstrations and training, as well as a versatile venue suitable for CPDs, integrator education, and client events. It presents a compelling narrative that secures Monitor Audio’s position within the smart home industry. For The Cinema Company, this project stands as a flagship collaboration, showcasing not only exceptional technical expertise but also the importance of design-led thinking, real-world performance, and a close partnership with the manufacturer.
“This Experience Centre brings everything Monitor Audio stands for into one place: reference performance, beautiful design and a seamless smart-home journey. From the moment you arrive, each space is designed to guide visitors through our heritage, our engineering and the real-world experiences our products are built to deliver. It’s a facility created not only to demonstrate what’s possible today, but to train, inspire and support our partners for what comes next. We’re grateful to The Cinema Company and every partner involved for their expertise, collaboration and commitment in making this vision a reality,” comments Michael Johnson, Global Marketing Director, Monitor Audio Group.
The Experience Centre integrates a carefully curated ecosystem of global technology and design brands, including Apple TV, Araknis Networks, Astro Lighting, Cinema Build Systems, Clic Furniture, Control4, Kaleidescape, Infinity Seating, QMotion EMEA, Monitor Audio, OneAV, Sony, Sound Design Distribution, The Chord Company, and Trinnov, all working seamlessly together to deliver a truly immersive and future-ready experience.
