This single-screen independent art house cinema in Oceania specialises in independent film, repertory screenings and small-scale filmmaker talks. The original venue had plain plaster walls, a hard ceiling and upholstered seating, with noticeable room echo and uneven bass response that took away from the immersive viewing experience. The cinema’s creative team wanted an atmospheric upgrade that would feel cinematic and intentional, not like a functional retrofit, while improving acoustic clarity for both dialogue and film soundtracks.

We centred the redesign around a polyester fiber luminous starry acoustic ceiling, paired with fabric wrapped acoustic panels along side and rear walls. The starry ceiling is built on 100% recycled PET base material with an NRC rating of 0.92, embedded with custom-arranged optical fibre star points that support dimmable brightness and scene presets. The material is formaldehyde-free and low-VOC, safe for long hours of enclosed audience use. Side walls and first reflection points are clad in high-density fibreglass-core fabric wrapped panels, NRC 0.85–1.0, upholstered in deep charcoal weave to match the cinema’s dark, immersive interior. A run of perforated panels along the lower rear wall further tunes low-frequency standing waves for tighter, more defined bass response.

The 180㎡ cinema upgrade was completed in 14 days during a scheduled programming break. Since reopening, audience feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Dialogue is crisp and natural, soundtrack dynamics feel fuller and more controlled, and the glowing starry ceiling has become a signature feature that audiences often mention before and after screenings.