Budget & Pricing Guide 2026
How much does a bespoke home cinema or smart home cost?
This is the most common question our clients ask. At Hi-Concept, we refuse the “one-size-fits-all” package approach. Here is why true luxury lies in invisible engineering, and how your investment is actually structured.
Designing a private cinema in a historic stone farmhouse requires completely different acoustic calculations than building one in the concrete basement of a modern villa. This is The Iceberg Rule: in a top-tier CEDIA integration, the visible equipment (4K screens, speakers) often represents only 40% of the total budget.
The remaining 60% funds what actually guarantees a flawless experience: the acoustic isolation (room-in-room construction), silent thermal management (HVAC), the Ubiquiti network infrastructure (the backbone of your home), and bespoke Control4 or KNX programming. To help you scale your architectural technology project, here is the reality of our integration tiers.
1. Dedicated Home Cinemas
The Dedicated Immersion
€60,000 – €90,000
The Profile: Ideal for standard rectangular rooms requiring minimal structural modifications. This budget focuses the investment on high-end electronics rather than heavy acoustic construction, guaranteeing an audiovisual quality far superior to commercial cinemas while keeping installation time efficient.
- Acoustics: Surface-level acoustic treatment (absorptive/diffusive panels).
- Audio: Integrated and calibrated Dolby Atmos 7.2.2 system.
- Video: 4K Projector with a standard acoustically transparent screen.
- Comfort: Premium ergonomic fixed cinema seating.
- Control: Intelligent universal remote control.
Architectural Bespoke
€90,000 – €150,000
The Profile: Our core expertise. At this level, technology visually disappears. The investment funds complex acoustic partitions, decorative stretch fabrics to hide speakers, and advanced automation linking scenic lighting to the projection. The room becomes a sensory work of art.
- Acoustics: Enhanced soundproofing and invisible acoustic correction.
- Audio: Dolby Atmos 7.4.4 calibrated via Dirac Live.
- Video: Native 4K Laser and Cinemascope (2.35:1) screen format.
- Comfort: Motorized, adjustable full-grain leather seating rows.
- Control: Complete Control4 ecosystem (Scenes, HVAC, DALI dynamic lighting).
The Absolute Reference
Over €150,000
The Profile: The uncompromising absolute. Designed to recreate the visceral experience of Hollywood mixing studios. This budget involves heavy structural engineering (“room-in-room”) for studio-grade silence, baffle walls, and audiophile processors handling extreme dynamic peaks without distortion.
- Acoustics: Total decoupling (Room-in-Room construction) and baffle walls.
- Audio: Separated amplification, high-end audiophile processors.
- Video: Dual Laser projection or MicroLED Video Wall (DCI-P3).
- Comfort: Bespoke seating with integrated haptic technology (D-Box).
- Control: Total automation, architectural lighting, and predictive AI.
2. Smart Home & Automation
The Connected Essential
Under €35,000
The Profile: Perfect for modernizing prestige apartments or existing villas. The goal is to unify disparate technologies so that the Wi-Fi network, music, and alarm work together seamlessly, without requiring a complete rewiring of the property.
- Network: Basic unified Ubiquiti Wi-Fi infrastructure.
- Lighting: Control of main living areas (programmed scenes).
- AV: Multiroom audio (3 to 4 zones) and TV integration.
- Security: Simple perimeter alarms and standard cameras.
Comprehensive Integration
€35,000 – €99,000
The Profile: Designed for deep renovations or luxury new builds. Hardwired KNX becomes the standard. The house anticipates your needs: automatic blind management for climate control, engraved custom keypads replacing ugly switches, and HD surveillance.
- Network: High-speed indoor/outdoor Wi-Fi Mesh coverage.
- Supervision: Centralized KNX / Control4 ecosystem.
- Lighting: Designer keypads, thermal management, and motorized shades.
- Security: HD Video surveillance, access control, and mock-occupancy.
Intelligent Architecture
Over €100,000
The Profile: The pinnacle for exceptional estates. This budget allows for 4K Video over IP matrixing (zero AV boxes in the rooms), enterprise-grade fiber network coverage, and circadian lighting that mimics natural sunlight for biometric well-being.
- Network: Enterprise-grade fiber infrastructure.
- Lighting: Circadian lighting (Lutron/KNX) matching biological rhythms.
- AV: Invisible 4K Video over IP matrix distribution.
- Security: AI perimeter security, connected gates, and biometric access.
The Proof in Pictures
Discover how our engineering budgets translate into award-winning real-world environments.
Frequently Asked Questions About Investment
Why hire a CEDIA integrator instead of a standard electrician?
An electrician pulls cables to supply power. An integrator engineers the entire ecosystem (network, thermal, acoustic, programming) so that the technology disappears seamlessly. We draw up plans in advance with your architect to avoid costly mistakes, and we provide long-term IT and AV support.
Do you only work on new builds, or also retrofits and renovations?
Both. While new builds make it easy to integrate heavy hardwired protocols like the KNX standard, we also utilize an arsenal of ultra-high-end wireless solutions for retrofitting historic homes and châteaux, allowing us to modernize without degrading the original architecture.
AV technology evolves quickly. Will my investment become obsolete?
This is exactly why the “Iceberg Rule” matters. 60% of your budget goes towards infrastructure (network cabling, acoustic room treatment). This foundation is timeless. In 10 years, if you want to upgrade from a 4K to an 8K projector, we simply replace the final visible equipment (the 40%), without needing to tear down walls or rebuild the room.
Our Areas of Expertise
Our Service Area
Based in Laval (Mayenne), our engineers travel across the Grand Ouest and the Paris region for major integration projects. We regularly work in Rennes, Nantes, La Baule, Vannes, Paris, and further afield depending on the scope of the architectural brief.
Every architectural project is unique.
Beyond the equipment, you are investing in our engineering bureau, our absolute discretion, and our long-term support. Let’s define the parameters of your integration together.