Project Description
Location: The Chilterns, Buckinghamshire
Project Time Table: 21 Days Over 24 Months
Year Completed: 2017
Value: £65,000 – £70,000
Commision: Property Owner
This was once the site of a dilapidated farmhouse in desperate need of redevelopment. After much deliberation and wrangling with local planning, this property got a makeover and expansion which took 2 years to complete.
Finita joined the project early on which was good because it provided us with time to adapt to the clients changing requirements over the course of the build.
The Challenges
The clients appreciated that they needed help but were unclear about exactly what they wanted. Initially, we shared some ideas and carried the favourites through to a proposal which was accepted. We began working on the brief by supplying the necessary cable to meet the specification.
Over the course of the project, the client’s requirements changed as they expressed an interest in adding more control to the property which was to become there country retreat from the city on the weekends. Consequently, remote access became very high on their list of priorities and we had to adapt accordingly adding heating and lighting control. Fortunately, we plan all our installations with expansion in mind so the expanded client brief was easy to accommodate.
Project Details
This residence incorporates the following features
- An Active Wireless MESH network comprising multiple access points for internet connectivity across the whole residence
- Multi-room music & radio in 11 spaces/rooms including outside
- Tablet, smartphone and wand remotes for convenient control of the whole home
- Invisible speakers in the media room, master bedroom, ensuite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe a for clean look
- Centralised entertainment declutters the rooms of equipment
- 4K audiovisual multi-room distribution. 7 televisions have access to Sky+HD, Blu-ray, AppleTV and Freeview
- Mood & Control lighting solution from Rako Lighting adds control and security
- A whole-home control platform from ELAN Home Systems
Speakers
We used a mixture of in-ceiling speakers from Niles Audio and Sonance Invisible series speakers all driven from an ELAN audio matrix amplifier combined with a Sonance DSP Amplifier for use with the invisible speakers.
Managing the Entertainment
The whole home is controlled via an ELAN Home Systems controller. Its capable of managing the lights, heating and entertainment from a single smartphone app. A music & radio streaming service was introduced by repurposing two SONOS Connects and adding some AppleTV’s for additional Air-to-play services.
Whole Home WiFi
Being as the property was far enough away from its neighbours not to experience wireless interference we opted for a managed MESH network from Luxel networking.
Lighting Control
Top of the client’s agenda was convenience. British designed RAKO Lighting was employed throughout the property
Heating
The under-floor heating installed by the plumbers was tied back to Heatmiser control. It was a simple exercise to link the Heatmiser into the ELAN control interface and offer simple on/off temperature control.
