Our international award winning installation.
Tasked with providing all the tech for an entire north London home we had to design a system with ergonomics and reliability at its core.
The back bone to any system like this is a rock solid computer network. Everything in modern life relies on it. It is not just the obvious things like needing internet for the kids and work, it is every last control command from turning TVs on and changing channels, to viewing the CCTV or answering the door intercom. You name it and it will utilise the computer network. As well as selecting the most reliable network products we also design in an ability for us to access the home network to reboot the notorious less reliable products like Sky TV boxes. This ability allows both us and our customers to turn off and back on again the majority of the tech from the comfort of the sofa.
For the audio distribution and control system we used URC Total Control System. It is rock solid reliable, subscription free and incredible quality. High definition audio in every room for everything you watch and listen to. For video we chose a video over IP solution. This is the most reliable way to send 4K video to all the TV’s around the house and allows us to centralised all the ugly and cumbersome electronics neatly away in a hidden location. In this case, in the basement.
For lighting we used Rako. Rako offers incredible ergonomics and ease of use for any lighting design in any house. One touch of button and any number of lights can be turned on or off. Welcome home scenes, cosy scenes, all off scenes, holiday modes, all from a simple press. No more confusing banks of switches and dimmers, no more unrealised potential from a lighting design. Press one button and guarantee that all your lights are immediately set to just how you like them.
Entry systems and intercom provided the ability to open gates and answer the door to anyone from anywhere in the property or even from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet on your phone. CCTV was accessible from any phone, ipad or TV inside the property using the URC control system, or anywhere around the world using the native CCTV app on the clients phone.
Invisible plaster over speakers were used for multi room audio where décor was sensitive to visible speakers. Customisable soundbars were used under TV’s for a perfect custom look.
In the living room we were task with providing a complete cinema package, but it came with a catch. The client didn’t want to know it was there! In order to do this we hid a full wisdom audio system consisting of Wisdom Audio L8i in wall front speakers, two Wisdom s110 subwoofers and acoustic treatment behind a fabric panel front wall. A huge cinemascope Stewart Filmscreen with electric masking was flush mounted in the ceiling. Wisdom Audio P4i surround speakers were custom painted to match the walls and make them blend in. The electronics to power all of this was in the basement with the rest of the home electronics. The result was full scale cinema sound and picture when the system was on and a relaxing calm luxury living room when the system was off.
Furthermore we also extended the audio and lighting control to the garden and garden gym, so music could be enjoyed in the fully landscaped outdoor area and the stunning garden design could be enjoyed day or night. TV, video distribution and lighting control was also extended to the garden gym. This means all the TV, video and music sources can be accessed in the gym. Not only that but all the lights through the garden and in to the gym can be turned on and off with one button in the house.
Multi-room AV & Home Automation | Hidden Home Technology
The best smart home company in the UK, Hidden Home Technology. See inside a £15million smart home.
Project at a glance
Location: north London. Scope: whole-home audio, video, lighting, security, entry systems and control, plus a concealed cinema in the living room and extended audio, video and lighting in the garden and garden gym. Control: URC Total Control. Lighting: Rako. Video: video over IP, centralised in the basement. Cinema: Wisdom Audio L8i in-wall front speakers, two Wisdom subwoofers, Wisdom P4i surrounds custom-painted to match the walls, acoustic treatment behind a fabric front wall, and a cinemascope Stewart Filmscreen with electric masking flush-mounted into the ceiling.
Why we start with the network, not the television
On a house of this size the single most common cause of a system that “never quite works” is a domestic network being asked to do a professional job. Every control command in a house like this rides on it — not just streaming and work, but turning on a television, changing a channel, viewing a camera, answering the gate. Get the network wrong and the client experiences it as “the lights are unreliable”, which is not what is actually happening.
So the network is designed first, specified properly, and — importantly — built so that we can reach it remotely and power-cycle the less reliable third-party boxes without a site visit. That single design decision removes a large share of the support calls a house like this would otherwise generate over its life, and the client can do it from the sofa.
The hardest brief: a full cinema nobody can see
The living room had to be a complete cinema, and the client did not want to know it was there when it was off. That rules out almost every conventional loudspeaker. In-wall planars behind an acoustically transparent fabric wall, with the acoustic treatment hidden in the same cavity, is one of very few ways to deliver genuine cinema scale in a room that has to read as a calm, finished reception room the rest of the time. The surrounds were painted to match the walls. All the electronics live in the basement with everything else, so there is no rack and no fan noise in the room itself.
Why URC and Rako
URC Total Control is subscription-free, reliable and does not hold a client’s house hostage to a monthly fee. That matters more over ten years than any feature list. Rako gives a lighting design its potential back: one button for a welcome scene, a cosy scene, an all-off, a holiday mode, instead of a wall of dimmers nobody understands. Extending both out to the garden and gym means the whole property behaves as one system rather than three that happen to share a postcode.
Read more about multi-room AV and smart home automation, lighting design and control, and home cinema design and installation, or browse the Wisdom Audio range. See more of our projects and our awards and press.
