High-tech luxury apartment for busy city professionals
The owners of this 4 bedroom Essex property, located in the grounds of a beautiful stately home, had an ambitious wish list: multiroom AV and a kick-ass home cinema were essential but they were also looking for ways to make their home more environmentally efficient and user friendly.
ClearSphere developed intelligent lighting and heating systems to reduce energy usage as well as installing top of the range multiroom AV and home cinema. Crestron controls were chosen for their ability to integrate all these systems into one elegant, easy to use interface: A single touch screen or keypad in each room controls everything, from heating and lighting to door entry and music.
“The Crestron system controls everything and it’s so simple to use”
Music and video on demand
A central media server storing thousands of hours of music, DVD’s and recorded TV pipes music and video throughout the home using a Crestron Adanto system. This links to the touch-screens and lets the clients select music and video via a simple and intuitive interface. The system also powers the full surround sound home cinema in the living room where a concealed screen and projector lower from the ceiling for full cinematic effect.
“When the Cinema screen appears from the ceiling I still think… ‘Wow!’”
Lighting for every mood
The lighting control system really gives this house a truly modern look and feel. A single button press selects from one of several moods that perfectly match different activities, from relaxing in front of the TV to entertaining guests. The system monitors daylight and slowly brings on selected lights as the evening draws in. It also helps to reduce electricity consumption by dimming or switching off lights as appropriate.
“I love the button beside the bed that turns off all the lights downstairs”
Energy efficient heating
The temperature of each room is individually controlled via thermostats hidden in the light switches. Intelligent heating allows the clients to select a program that reflects the way they are currently using the home and the system does the rest: Rooms are only heated when they are being used and the system adapts to external temperature conditions.
What’s more the touch-screens show energy consumption in a graphical format. This lets the clients monitor the way they use energy and evaluate the savings they are making.
“Energy efficiency was importance to us. It’s great to see how much we’re saving”
The end result is a powerful, elegant and discreet solution that has surpassed the client’s expectations. They love the fact that one interface controls all their technology, removing the clutter of wall boxes and remotes. It’s also so simple and intuitive that even guests can use it without being shown how.
