Media Wall in Venetian Plaster

Our bit was the backdrop — and the backdrop had to earn its place.

This media wall was designed and installed by Get Connected IOM. It takes centre stage in a stunning open-plan space, and it is a proper piece of engineering: an 83" LG OLED, a 2200mm real log fire, Sonos surround sound, and a solid black American walnut worktop running the length of it. The joinery is by Westcoast Timberworks. Curved features tie the wall into the kitchen and dining area so the whole room flows.

We were one trade among several here, and our part was the Venetian plaster backdrop — the surface the screen sits against and the LED strips wash across. It was a good brief to get. A wall like this is lit from every angle and looked at all evening, so the finish behind it has to hold up close and from across the room.

Venetian plaster suits that job. It has depth rather than flatness, so as the light changes through the evening the wall changes with it — warm and mottled under the LEDs, quieter in daylight. As Get Connected put it, under differing light it really allows the wall to pop. The same finish runs on into the recessed niches alongside, so the plaster reads as one piece across the design.

Thanks to Get Connected IOM for bringing us in, and to Westcoast Timberworks for the joinery the plaster sits against.