Englefield Green sits just outside Egham, on the Surrey side of Windsor Great Park — and this beautifully renovated family home is exactly the kind of project we love working on in the Home Counties. Open-plan kitchen and living space, stone-topped island, full-width glass doors onto a landscaped garden: the brief was simple. Music and television everywhere it should be, and no visible technology anywhere it shouldn’t.
One system, every room
At the heart of the house is a URC control system. A single, family-friendly remote and app run everything: the URC MRX-10 controller sits in a tidy equipment rack in the utility room, alongside a URC matrix amplifier that feeds independently controlled audio zones throughout the home. Any source, any room — the kitchen can have the radio on while the living area streams something else entirely.
The sources are centralised in the same rack: a Sonos Port for streaming, Apple TV, and the Virgin Media box distributed over an HDMI video distribution system, so every television in the house has access to everything without a single set-top box on show.
The open-plan heart of the home
The kitchen-living space is where this house really shows off. At the kitchen end, two pairs of architectural in-ceiling speakers disappear into the plasterwork and fill the space with even, room-wide sound. Down at the television end, a Marantz AV receiver drives a discreet 4.1 surround system — Origin Acoustics in-ceiling speakers paired with a Monitor Audio Silver subwoofer — so film nights get proper weight and detail with nothing on show but a compact subwoofer.
Each area is a separate zone within the URC system, so the family can run the whole space as one big room for a party, or as independent areas for an ordinary Tuesday.
Garden audio that earns its keep
The landscaped garden — paved patio, outdoor kitchen and timber-slatted boundaries — deserved better than a portable speaker. The original installation included a pair of Monitor Audio Climate 50 all-weather speakers; the system has just been extended with a second pair, giving even coverage across the patio, dining and seating areas without ever needing to be loud at any one point. That is the trick with garden audio: more speakers at lower volume sounds better for you and far better for the neighbours.
A network that covers the whole plot
None of it works without a rock-solid network. The house runs on a Luxul managed router with Ruckus Wi-Fi access points throughout the property — including dedicated outdoor coverage, so streaming by the outdoor kitchen is as solid as it is indoors.
A long-term relationship
Like most of our clients, this is a home we have looked after over years rather than weeks — extending and refining the system as the family’s use of the house evolves. Asked why he keeps coming back to us, the client put it like this:
“Dan’s very clear speaking, intellectually astute and gives a reasoned solution to all problems.”
Giles, Englefield Green
“The service received from Dan and Hidden Home Technology is excellent. The integrated audio system installed sounds amazing. After completion of the job the aftercare has been second to none.”
Giles Bright — 5★ Google review, Englefield Green
Project notes
| Role | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Englefield Green, Surrey (near Egham and Windsor) |
| Control | URC MRX-10 — single remote and app |
| Audio | URC multi-zone matrix amplifier; architectural in-ceiling speakers; Marantz 4.1 with Origin Acoustics in-ceilings and Monitor Audio Silver subwoofer |
| Garden | 2 × pairs Monitor Audio Climate 50 all-weather speakers |
| Video | HDMI distribution to all TVs; centralised Virgin Media, Apple TV, Sonos Port |
| Network | Luxul managed router; Ruckus Wi-Fi indoors and out |
Planning something similar in Surrey, Berkshire or anywhere in the Home Counties? We design and install multi-room audio, home cinema and smart home control across London and the Home Counties as well as our West Country heartland. Get in touch — or explore our multi-room AV and home automation services.
