Director MIchael Bay is flanked by his English mastiffs, Rebel (left) and Bonecrusher, in the entry.
The state-of-the-art screening room was conceived by theater architect and acoustical engineer Jeff Cooper, a mandarin of modern theater design whose client list includes Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis. For the tech-savvy as well as the Luddites among our readership, Architectural Digest asked Cooper to explain what makes Bay's screening room so extraordinary.
The 40-seat digital theater is designed "with steeply inclined, curved rows of stadium seating to maximize sight lines and assure optimum hearing lines," Cooper says. The Stewart MicroPerf screen, which measures 12 feet by 24 feet, has thousands of minuscule perforations to allow for what he calls "acoustic transparency" from the five front speakers and two subwoofers mounted directly behind the screen.
A 4K Barco digital video projector, mounted in the projection room, delivers image brightness and clarity that are nothing short of breathtaking.
Designer Lynda Murray collaborated with Jeff Cooper Architects on the home theater, whose dome is embedded with LED lights.
A Michel Mouffe painting and a Thai Buddha head surmount the master suite's bespoke walnut platform bed and integrated headboard; the blanket is by Calvin Klein Home, the Alison Berger lamps are from Holly Hunt, the sofa is by Flexform, and the rug is by Mansour Modern.
Director Michael Bay commissioned this stunning three-story Los Angeles residence, which was originally conceived by architect Chad Oppenheim and realized by the architecture firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios and interior designer Lorraine Letendre, with additional work by decorator Lynda Murray; the poolside chaise longues are by RH.