We were invited by the new owner of this newly built house to meet with them to discuss what was possible in terms of making their new house as smart as possible.

After much discussion around their wants and needs, we set upon designing a system to meet their requirements.

The builder had run minimal cables around so we needed to think outside the box on all aspects of the job.

Solutions selected

Visual

We decided to have a mix of centralized networking equipment with local audio and video hidden away in cabinets and behind TV’s as no cabling could be run.

The house now consists of 8 high-definition televisions, all with a full suite of streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and more. The Master Bedroom, livingroom, and games room also received Vodafone Sky decoders. This gives every user plenty of content to watch.

And considering its a large family of up to 10 at a time, this was important!

Audio

Each TV was treated with a custom sound bar connected to a streaming amplifier that allows you to stream music right from your phone or from services like Spotify, Tidal, iheartRadio, Tunein and much more.

The Bedrooms also received custom designed and made cabinets from our good friends at Helix Design. This allowed us somewhere to hide the necessary equipment along with gaming consoles.

The Games and Living rooms have some high end speakers hidden in the cabinetry along with 2 subs hidden under the kick of each cabinet. This allowed us to have high quality sound but with nothing visible.

Each Zone is independent so they can all watch or listen to whatever they want. However the zones can all be linked to play the same music for entertaining.

Lighting

We also retro fitted the entire house with smart lighting. This allows us to control lights with simple scenes like “Cook” “Dine” “Entertain” and “Goodnight”.

Blinds and Sunshades were also integrated into the Control4 system. The blinds are battery operated and can all be individually controlled or in groups which makes things quick and easy come night-time or waking up in the morning.

With a push of a single button the house will be ready for whatever the homeowners are doing. The easy to use keypads control lights, audio, TV and the blinds. This makes access to everything quick, easy and stress free.

Network

A high speed wired and wired network was deployed around the house to cater for all the connected devices. With well over 50 devices connected to the network at any one time this needed to be rock solid. With the clients UFB connection they can stream 4k Video on any TV and any devices in the house with ease.

Access and Security

A intercom system was installed at the front door and the rear gate of the house. This allows the visitors to call through to the house and the client can answer on any of the touch screens located around the home, or even on their mobile while they are away from the house.

This allows anyone inside to see who’s calling and talk to them. The gate, door or garage can then be opened remotely.

Finished result

The clients were a pleasure to work with and I know they are extremely happy with the end result.

The Control4 system allows them complete control of the house from anywhere in the world.

Whether on holiday or at the office, they can check in on things and even get notified when the kids arrive home from school.

A beautiful home made smarter with our help!

“I must say thank you for your input and advice in relation to the audio- lighting and all other aspects of the Control4 system. From a sceptic to a 100% believer in Control4 is how I would describe myself. I could not imagine why anyone would consider building a home without building in some sort of system, particularly if the home is in the higher price bracket.”

— John Rae