Private houses · A converted barn

Racing simulator room: a custom Formula 1 simulator and zoned audio in a converted barn

A client who works sixteen-hour days and is mad about Formula 1 turned a barn that had been part of his business for years into a den, an entertainment space and a memory palace, with friends who are the best tradesmen in their fields. Lairds built the simulator and the sound.

Client

Private client

Site

A converted barn with a first-floor entertainment space

Scope

Custom racing simulator, multi-zone audio, video matrix, control, support

Platform

iRacing on a custom-built PC with a Fanatec wheel

The building

Every detail of the room is a memory: the images on the wall, the cleverly converted kitchen units, the paint on the floor, the cars in the garage below. Our task was to bring it together with the technology, with the simulator always the centrepiece and the extras bringing it up to date.

The first floor needed sound without echoes and slap from the hard construction. Studying the room and the acoustic specifications of several options, we settled on Sonance 4.5-inch speakers spread evenly through the room on a Sonance amplifier. The lesson from commercial work applies here: more speakers at a lower level give better coverage, so twenty people can talk over the music rather than shout over it.

What we designed

The client had searched high and low for a Wurlitzer jukebox. With a room full of speakers, we made it both a source and a separate zone through a pair of Sonos units, for the more intimate retro moments.

The simulator runs iRacing, the racing world’s online platform, on a core system we built from scratch: a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, an Intel Core i9-10900K overclocked, solid-state drives and 128 GB of memory, liquid-cooled and air-filtered, built into the simulator platform. The platform has a rumble seat, surround sound and a Fanatec racing wheel, and the reclining F1 seat and chassis can be mounted to a D-Box motion frame later with minimal disruption. A multi-screen set-up runs through an Ultra HD video matrix, which also feeds a fourth screen so the crowd can watch with a beer, and more screens or projectors can be added. Through the zoned Sonance speakers, the engine sound is something else. All of it starts from one button, and we provide upgrades, secure remote support and the occasional calibration. See our racing simulator service.

The den

The custom Formula 1 simulator cockpit built by Lairds in the converted barn

Multi-screen view from the driving seat of the racing simulator

Fanatec wheel and the simulator chassis in the barn

The Wurlitzer jukebox, a source and a zone of its own in the barn

Seating and the simulator in the first-floor entertainment space

The racing simulator room with Sonance ceiling speakers spread through the space

Driver in the simulator seat during set-up

Bar stools and the mural wall in the converted barn

The simulator with its screens running iRacing

What we handed over

A simulator with the best specification the budget could carry, a room that sounds right with twenty people in it, a jukebox with its own zone, and a client who knows we are there for upgrades and calibration. Projects like this are the core of what we do.

What went in

Custom PC: GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, Intel Core i9-10900K overclocked, SSDs, 128 GB memory, liquid cooling
iRacing; Fanatec racing wheel; rumble seat; reclining F1 seat and chassis, D-Box ready
Multi-screen set-up and Ultra HD video matrix with a fourth screen for spectators
Sonance 4.5-inch speakers throughout on a Sonance amplifier
Wurlitzer jukebox as a source and separate zone via Sonos
One-button control; secure remote support