Room within a room for home cinema

[oadbyone]

Hi, I have a large room upstairs that is currently used as both a study and cinema room which measures 7.75 x 5.93. I was hoping to build a room within this room to have a dedicated home cinema with a projector and in-wall speakers. This would involve new stud walls built to create a small 5 x 3.6m room, am I right in thinking that this would need building regs approval as there won't be a window (there are 3 windows in the main room) and will it not get passed as i've read that you shouldn't really have a room within a room because of fire regulations? I have drawn a layout that I was considering but just wondered if anybody had any insight into this before I take it further? Thanks.

 

[Peter Parker]

I've not heard that before, so I think you should be fine but I'm no expert. I had to get planning permission for an infill extension which meant one room was not going to have any windows, just a single door to the hallway. It was even designated as a cinema room on the drawings we submitted. It was passed and we had a council building control guy visit a couple of times to ensure regs were being adhered to, so it was pretty clear the room wasn't going to have any windows.

No harm in asking though, as some areas may apply rules differently, but I would think that you could just get it built without informing anyone, unless you're concerned about when you sell so want to make sure everything is official.

 

[oadbyone]

I've not heard that before, so I think you should be fine but I'm no expert. I had to get planning permission for an infill extension which meant one room was not going to have any windows, just a single door to the hallway. It was even designated as a cinema room on the drawings we submitted. It was passed and we had a council building control guy visit a couple of times to ensure regs were being adhered to, so it was pretty clear the room wasn't going to have any windows.

No harm in asking though, as some areas may apply rules differently, but I would think that you could just get it built without informing anyone, unless you're concerned about when you sell so want to make sure everything is official.

Thanks for the reply, yes my concern is mainly to do with future selling and possible home insurance problems. The builder that quoted was pretty certain I wouldn't need approval but I have sent our local authority regs guys a message just to be sure.

 

[Peter Parker]

Let us know how you get on, as others in the future may have a similar query.