Help with new simulator build - angled roof to enclosure?

[NewSimUK]

Hello guys

I am a new follower and would be grateful for some advice.

I am planning an extension which will include a golf simulator and home cinema room and wanted your help in choosing between 2 alternative enclosure positions.

I have attached 2 images from the architect's drawings which should makes things easier.

The space dimensions are as follows:

Width = 5.3m / 17ft
Depth = 7.8m / 25ft
Height = variable:

• Under flat roof on right hand side of pic is 2.7m / less than 9ft
• Raising to max height of 4.3m / 14ft

Option 1

• Impact Screen to be fastened to edge of flat ceiling (which is 2.7m high) at point of incline, with angle iron
• The adjacent walls to be padded (no curtains)
• The roof of the enclosure to be angled to follow the roof line. Has anyone done this? I think this is my preference but I haven't seen it done before, or certainly not to the extent our roofline would require. If anyone has images of an angled roof enclosure i would love to see them. Are there any issues with this that i haven't thought of?
• If we went down this route the space behind the impact screen wouldn't be waster. We would either move the internal stud wall to make the adjacent room bigger or us this space for storage (AV rack, clubs etc.)

Option 2

• Impact screen to be pushed back to 300mm in front of adjoining wall. Height available would be 2.7m so i assume the actual image would be approx 2.5m-ish?...

Things to consider:

• The room is going to be dual purpose with 2 orientations.
• We want to put a dedicated and fixed cinema screen on the wall where the doors are. I therefore want to avoid projectors and overhead LMs hanging down blocking the cinema screen. This is the obvious issue with option 2 given the limited height available under the flat roof. For the avoidance of doubt i don't mind equipment hanging from the ceiling - just not lower than say 3m high.
• Please ignore the position of the internal doors. We've come up with some great ideas about protecting them. Its not ideal i know but these cannot be moved.
• We also cannot raise the height of the flat roof without losing the ensuite window above the proposed extension and so again i'd prefer to work with one of the two options above if possible.

We are due to start building 1st week of Sept. I will be sure to share my progress for anyone interested.

I look forward to receiving your advice/input.

[3on3putt]

I think the trouble with angling the enclosure roof is finding an elbow joint that is at the exact same angle as the roofline. Is it a 45 degree angle? If so, you can probably pull it off. But I don't think elbow joints come in too many different varieties of angles (45 may in fact be the only option as far as I know).

If angling the enclosure doesn't work you can go without an enclosure roof and just pad the ceiling instead.

[NewSimUK]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry, perhaps i didn't explain that very well. My intention was to pad the roof and walls (rather than build an enclosure using poles etc.)

[Sailorman]

One consideration for your project is the type of projector you are using. Most people use a short-throw projector which (if you are mounting on the ceiling) will need to be mounted above the height of the screen. On my installation with an Optoma projector projecting to a 8 ft high screen, the center of the lens is a little over 7ft from the front of the screen and 15 inches above the top of the screen. If you put your screen back under the ceiling you may have trouble getting the image to the top of the screen without mounting your projector lower than it should be and then needing to do a keystone adjustment on the projector which will degrade the resolution and quality of the image. I custom built enclosure 4 ft deep walls for my sim with a ceiling that is angled up to allow for the projector image to reach the top of the screen. On the photo, you can see that my project ended up slightly above the 9'-6" drop ceiling that was in my room. I covered the walls I built with two half inch layers of carpet padding and then stretched black fabric over that. That brings up one more consideration on having a padded angled ceiling. Most padding is going to allow the ball to bounce back a certain amount and if the ceiling is angled on a 45 degree slope that may allow balls rebound back fairly close to the golfer. I routinely hit the roof of my enclosure when I am using any club with more loft than a pitching wedge. My roof is less angled, and the ball bounces straight down, hits the imitation turf with a lot of backspin and then rebounds back toward the golfer. It's not hard enough to hurt anyone, but I do occasionally catch the ball! Good luck with your project!

[NewSimUK]

Sailorman Thanks for your reply. Great advice on perhaps having to drop the projector too low for option 2.

If I go for option 1 I'll have to think about some baffles to stop the ball pinging back at me.

Kudos on your setup btw, very impressive.