Home Automation for an Old Devon Coach House

Smart Automation Solutions for an Old Coach House

Lighting Control Systems: Lutron

Home Control: RTi

Home Entertainment: Samsung 8500 series

Audio Control: RTi with Onkyo amplifier and Polk speakers

Add value and modernise with smart automation

This interesting couple, recently retired and with a great enthusiasm for life, approached me with some home automation ideas they had researched to modernise their home environment. It became apparent that they the male counterpart loved a project and was passionate about his own works, especially as he could utilise his previous experience as a Project Manager. His wife, although interested, was more concerned that the investment would provide some value to their living space.

Automated control for their living space

The site visit revealed a fascinating project, a converted stables complete with the original ironwork separating the bedrooms and the Victorian grain dispenser for the horse feed. They clearly wanted to maintain these quirky features while creating a contemporary environment. With that in mind their goal for automated control was focused on the living space where they could afford to discreetly introduce state of the art control without compromising the historical surrounds.

Smart scene lighting

They had created an amazing living space with a large open plan kitchen extending through to a vast living room with log burner, both with folding doors on to a covered terrace and a mezzanine making the most of the high ceilings. They wanted an environment that would support entertaining and relaxing with smart scene lighting and an audio-visual solution at the touch of a button. They were almost the ideal couple as they knew what they wanted, but as usual their ideas were larger than the budget – so we had to work with them to meet their needs within budget.

They wanted high quality products that would blend into their environment whilst offering sophisticated control. They wanted an ‘all off’ function which was achieved through one button press on the slick RTI remote control, an in wall colour touch screen with a gloss black finish bezel to match the black glass kitchen units. They wanted to eliminate the need for several remotes to control the audio visual and lighting control.; this was achieved by using a combination of the Lutron lighting switch , an in-wall colour touch screen and a hand held remote RTi remote control, housed on an illuminated charging cradle in the living room area.

Smart multi-room audio solution

The Audio solution needed to support sound in three areas: external terrace , kitchen-dining room and the living room, where we incorporated a 5.1 digital surround sound via a THX rated receiver. One of the considerations for the project was quality of sound, particularly as the front of the house was wall to wall glass; consequently the subwoofer had to provide sufficient bass to promote a smooth sound with acoustic depth.

LED lighting

To meet the clients visual requirements we incorporated two Samsung Smart TVS in the living room and the snug area with full 1080P capability and control of the visual sources (Sky HD , Blu Ray 3D Player ). The lighting consisted of a combination of the latest LED, halogen decorative fittings and a colour changing splash back tile lighting in the kitchen, all controlled with the RTI Control.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to a party at the client’s house and it was a great delight to see the finished design working as it was intended and enhancing the social experience.

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