Planning a private cinema into a holiday villa

A holiday villa is built for slow days with family and friends: films after dinner, music in the living room, guests drifting from room to room. The audio-visual layer is part of that experience, and it is the part most likely to clash with the architecture if it arrives late. Here is what we learned on a private villa in Goa, completed in 2024.

1. Resolve the AV with the interiors, early

We worked with the design team from the outset, so every speaker location, cable route and equipment position was settled with the interiors rather than around them.

2. Plan for stone, timber and tall ceilings

Stone floors, pitched ceilings and wide openings look wonderful but make rooms lively and full of echoes. Planning for that early lets the room sound as good as it looks.

3. Give the theatre a strong personality

In Goa, deep red walls, tiered recliners and a dark ceiling with a sculptural pendant make the theatre feel like a private cinema, a 240-inch diagonal screen gives it scale, with speakers hidden behind fabric and within the walls and ceiling.

4. Don’t skip calibration

With a measurement microphone at the seats, our team tuned the system until it sounded right from every seat, not just the best one.

“A room isn’t finished when the last speaker goes in. It’s finished when it sounds right from every seat.”

Ashish Hingorani, Managing Director, Avenue Sound India

See how we approach a home theatre in Mumbai and beyond.

5. Let speakers read as objects

Round, dark, sculptural speakers sit with the furniture, so music fills the room while they read as décor.

6. Keep the media wall calm

A screen and soundbar sitting flush on an uncluttered wall look finished whether the screen is on or off, and music can play there alone or across all 6 independent audio zones. It works best alongside thoughtful home automation.

See the full project: Cinema by the Coast: Goa villa case study

Hear it before you specify it

Nothing We Do Is Ordinary