WOW!house, the annual showhouse held at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, has opened its fifth edition with 22 spaces created by an invited roster of architects and interior designers. The visitor journey culminates in The Nucleus Immersive Room, designed by Russell Sage Studio.
The space, known as The Momentarium, is built around L-Acoustics’ HYRISS spatial audio system, marking the first time this technology has been incorporated into a designer showhouse. Indeed, HYRISS forms the structural foundation of this unique environment.
WOW!house is open to the public from 2 June to 2 July 2026 and includes two guided tours per day within the ticket price. The event attracts design enthusiasts and international design media, as well as architects, interior designers, hoteliers, yacht designers, and property developers involved in the design and development of high-end residential and hospitality projects.
A room where objects trigger sound
Nucleus, the UK residential AV integrator behind the project, returns to WOW!house after presenting a media room at the 2025 edition. This year, the team set out to design a space in which audio would shape every aspect of the experience: the narrative, the atmosphere, and visitor interaction.
Russell Sage Studio partnered with Nucleus to develop a concept centred on memory: a circular, cocooning interior where visitors remove objects such as letters, photographs, and small family keepsakes from bespoke drawers and chests. Each object triggers a specific sound and atmosphere: a musical fragment, an ambient texture, or a change in lighting. Two original musical pieces were composed for the room by Krishna Jhaveri and Sanaya Ardeshir, composers working with L-ISA Studio.
The room is positioned at the end of the WOW!house visitor journey. The furnishings include a custom-designed curved banquette beneath a sculptural plaster ceiling; fabrics are layered in soft tones; lighting, designed by John Cullen Lighting, is integrated into the architecture; and the fragrance is provided by Jo Malone London. Audio, video, lighting and shading control are coordinated as a single layer through Crestron, so that opening a drawer simultaneously changes both the soundtrack and the atmosphere of the room.
We wanted to take our media room one step further. The goal was to demonstrate what happens when technology is considered from the outset as part of the architecture, interior design, lighting and acoustics all at once. The room had to use sound to achieve something we had never done before in a designed space, explains Durgesh Sinh, Founder and Director of Nucleus.
Why HYRISS?
A conventional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system was incompatible with the project brief. Channel-based audio ties sound to fixed loudspeaker positions, whereas Momentarium required sounds capable of moving with the listener as the state of the room changed. After previously experiencing HYRISS at the L-Acoustics showroom in Highgate, Nucleus decided to incorporate it into the project.
HYRISS (Hyperreal Immersive Sound Space) architecturally integrates three professional L-Acoustics technologies into a single platform designed for residential, hospitality, corporate and marine environments:
- L-ISA, for object-based sound source positioning.
- Ambiance, for acoustic transformation of the space.
- Anima, the engine integrated into the L-ISA Processor II, which adapts content to the environment and the moment.
A room equipped with HYRISS can switch between cinema, spatial music, live concert reproduction and ambient soundscapes without requiring any hardware changes. This versatility is what enables Momentarium to function as a memory-triggered environment: the same loudspeakers and processing systems that reproduce a film soundtrack can, moments later, position a fragment of music behind the visitor’s shoulder.
We have known L-Acoustics for many years as one of the most respected names in professional audio. Their technology is used in some of the most demanding live, cultural and experiential environments in the world, making it particularly compelling to bring that level of performance into residential design. We chose HYRISS because we wanted the room to go beyond conventional surround sound or the standard home cinema format. The idea was to create a space where sound became part of the storytelling, adds Sinh.
Designed to disappear visually
The interior conceived by Russell Sage Studio had to remain visually seamless. To achieve this, acoustically transparent fabrics selected together with Nucleus conceal the loudspeakers. Sony displays provide visual content when required, prioritising colour accuracy and discretion over visual dominance. The entire system is controlled and coordinated through Crestron.
“What inspires me about Nucleus is their ability to transform complex technology into something elegant and intuitive”, says Russell Sage. “They treat sound, lighting and control as architectural tools rather than add-ons. That mindset allows us to create spaces where technology enhances the atmosphere instead of interrupting it”.
The system
Momentarium is based on:
- 17 X4i coaxial loudspeakers
- 12 SB6i subwoofers
- 2 LA1.16i amplified controllers
- 1 LC16D network switch
- 2 LS10 network switches
- 1 L-ISA Processor II
- 1 P1 processor for Ambiance
Processing is handled by the L-ISA Processor II, the core of every HYRISS installation, which runs the Anima engine to adapt the room’s acoustic behaviour to each scene.
Specified by specialists
The decision by Nucleus and Russell Sage Studio to use HYRISS as the technological backbone of their WOW!house space demonstrates the confidence both specialists place in this solution to create high-end immersive experiences.
Russell Sage Studio has an outstanding track record in luxury hospitality and design projects, including Lilibet’s Mayfair, the reimagining of Le Gavroche for Matt Abe at Bonheur, Ardbeg House on Islay and Glenmorangie House in Tain. The studio is currently working on projects for five five-star hotels and three private members’ clubs.
Meanwhile, Nucleus has extensive experience delivering ultra-luxury residential projects across London and large multi-building estates. For the design and architecture professionals visiting WOW!house, Momentarium provides a real-world example of how HYRISS can be integrated into high-end environments to create immersive experiences in which sound becomes an essential part of the design.
Sound needed to envelop the room, create movement, reinforce the visual content and help transform the overall atmosphere. HYRISS is what makes this room different. It allows Momentarium to become far more than a beautiful space with integrated AV technology. It is a room capable of transforming, telling stories and creating a lasting emotional response. That was always the central ambition of the project, concludes Sinh.
WOW!house 2026 runs from 2 June to 2 July 2026 at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour in London and is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio is included in the event’s twice-daily guided tours.
Image captions:
- LA_Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio_1 – Nucleus and Russell Sage Studio build WOW!house 2026 around L-Acoustics HYRISS.
- LA_Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio_2 – The Nucleus Immersive Room marks the first installation of L-Acoustics HYRISS in a designer showhouse at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.
- LA_Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio_3 – L-Acoustics HYRISS was chosen to take the experience beyond conventional surround sound and standard home cinema formats.
- LA_Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio_4 – Nucleus designed a room where audio shapes every aspect of the experience: narrative, atmosphere and visitor interaction.
- LA_Nucleus Immersive Room by Russell Sage Studio_5 – L-Acoustics HYRISS is the defining element that allows Momentarium to become far more than a beautiful space with integrated AV technology.
