Essential Install | Case Study : Henri
Need for speed
The cinema room is a key area of integrated control
Total Home Control
Michael explains : “ I think there was one major technical challenge on the project , it was to meet the client ’ s requirement in terms of ‘ total home control ’. There is not ONE electronic system of this house that isn ’ t integrated with our automation one . It is challenging in many ways .
“ First , the long engineering process in order to check the feasibility , get the adequate protocols , test the products in our workshop in order to validate the complete functioning even before installation . Then , the coordination with the other companies , the specialist for network , the one for HVAC , the one for the swimming pool , for the elevator , the fire-place , the security and so on . Being at the centre of this team , and with the trust of the client , we had the challenge to manage this integration project for all of them . Finally , the challenge of making all these technical aspects disappear when the client lives in his house creating simple and intuitive user interfaces in order to improve the client well-being at home .”
Project Detail
The project delivers control of lighting from all of the rooms and zones of the house , selecting scenarios or just individual parts as required . The client can also control the indoor roller-shades , outdoor sun blinds and motorised windows .
Each room can have its temperature set independently from the rest of the house , and users can also turn on the various TVs and watch channels from different decoders , Apple TV , Blu-Ray player , movie server , local HDMI plug , CCTV cameras or BMS web interface .
When its music time , the home owners can turn to AirPlay , a music server or electronic Piano . Internal communications are promoted via touch-screens , iPad and the comprehensive phone system . Those inside can answer a video-call from the outdoor door-station and unlock the automatic doors or call the elevator . Weather info is available from the home ’ s own weather station and users can also get information on power monitoring information as well as other house notifications and alerts .
Some other key areas of control include the cinema room , the automatic fire place in the living room , as well as the special pool features including swimming against the tide , the water cascade and total control of the waters ’ temperature . Another cool area of control is in the garage where the car turntable can be controlled , most often from the client ’ s smartphone .
Car Mad
Clearly the client loves his cars and the home has its very own car museum .
Michael explains : “ In the museum we manage lights , temperature and so on as in any other room . Music is also played through two column speakers ( CM8 from Bowers & Wilkins ) and there is also a complete LED wall , linked to the digital media matrix allowing us to display any source .”
One of the most striking features of the home is the fact that the pool drops down into the floor below , fully visible to those in the living space below . Not just a huge physical challenge in building the structure itself , but from Henri ’ s point of view , there were some nice opportunities here too . Users can control the whole swimming pool system from below and activate the ‘ bubbles ’ system , so the pool is not just fun to use , it becomes a really impressive aesthetic feature too .
The home has lots of water features including saunas as well as the pool . Michael explains : “ Being able to fully control those systems wasn ’ t easy . Each water element is installed by a different specialist , with a different protocol . At the end , it is completely transparent for the client and that is the essence of what we do . The installation is very technical because of all the integrated systems , but easy to use for the client . Controlling swimming pool , sauna , hammam was a challenge as it was for elevator , car turntable and weather station .”
August 2017 | 37