Mancave
What was once a basement car park is now a space that knows who's home, plays the right music before the engine has cooled, and always has the car pointing the right way for tomorrow.
Often, clients will look to us to propose what can be done and what will work for their property. This one began with a brief from our client; and what a brief it was.
With a clear vision and the ambition to match, he challenged us to transform a basement car park into a one-of-a-kind automotive sanctuary. The centrepiece: a rotating turntable to park and showcase one of his supercars. Our role was not to propose what was possible; it was to make the impossible work.
Making the impossible dream work
The space demanded more than engineering; it demanded craftsmanship. Alongside the turntable, the installation encompasses an HD video distribution system serving the games room, high-fidelity audio throughout, and a sensor network dense enough to give the cave a genuine intelligence of its own.
The space is impressive. The automation is what makes it extraordinary. With over 15 sensors deployed across the area; working in concert with magnetic flux vehicle detection sensors in the driveway and beneath the cars; the system builds a rich picture of what is happening at any given moment. It knows when a vehicle has entered the garage, and it knows when that vehicle has come to rest. From that point, it gets personal. The system identifies which car has arrived and automatically triggers a predefined playlist of background music; with his-and-hers presets that respond to whichever vehicle has pulled in. The right music, for the right driver, without a button pressed. When the space is not in use, the system takes care of the details there too; ensuring the turntable always returns the car to a nose-out position, ready for the next departure.
Solution Highlight
As if the prospect of walking into a sumptuous garage-cum-games-room wasn’t enough, Ultamation found ways to enhance the practical elements of the car turntable. We incorporated colour changing lighting into the perimeter of the turntable. This is controlled using Ultamation’s own UC-DMX-210 hardware solution that links the Crestron control system seamlessly with the lighting.
Not only does this provide decorative lighting for displaying the cars, but also provides feedback to the driver when parking – changing colour to indicate when the care is perfectly positioned on the table.
UC-DMX-210 Ethernet to DMX ControllerEngineered for the Unexpected
A project like this presents challenges that no specification document can fully anticipate. That is precisely the kind of challenge we relish. Every sensor, every integration, every edge case was considered; because a system that only works in ideal conditions is not a system worth putting our name on. The result is a space that works as hard as it impresses; and one our client can depend on to deliver, every time he walks through the door.
