The Manor House
A listed Queen Anne manor house is not an obvious candidate for a full home automation fit-out.
The history is protected; the walls are original; and the building’s Grade II status placed strict limits on what could be touched, penetrated, or disturbed. That is precisely the kind of constraint that produces the most considered work.
The brief was to deliver a fully integrated home that combined the family’s media, security, and lifestyle requirements into a single, easy-to-use system; without leaving a mark on the fabric of the building.
Solution Highlight
Many client requests are fairly predictable, like providing great sounding audio and pixel perfect video across a property. Others are a little more ‘out there’ such as “I want to control my Steinway piano from the system” or “We can’t lose the lighting system because the keypads I love aren’t available anymore“. Ultamation have experienced this enough times across our projects to recognise that, sometimes, what might seem like a big ask can actually be achieved with relative ease… provided you have the right tools at your disposal.
That’s why we created the “Wildcard” drivers – a collection of modules, for Crestron Home, that solve a multitude of challenges – from opening the main gate to integrating with a legacy lighting system to – yes – even controlling a client’s Steinway piano!
Wildcard “Full Deck” for Crestron HomeWith almost no allowance for the disruption that new cabling would bring to original ceilings and walls, every element of the infrastructure had to be rethought. A conventional wired approach was not an option. Instead, a wireless Lutron lighting system was designed and installed; pushing the boundaries of what the technology could deliver at the time, and doing so invisibly.
The same discipline shaped the audiovisual installation. Sixteen Sonos audio zones serve the house, with 4K video distribution reaching every screen. In the two main lounges, Future Automation mechanisms handle the televisions with quiet ingenuity: in the formal lounge the screen retracts into a wall recess when not in use; in the informal lounge it rises from within a cabinet. Both disappear entirely when the room doesn’t call for them.
The vaulted basement houses a dedicated cinema; a space that earns its place through quality rather than spectacle.
Crestron sits at the heart of everything; bringing audio, video, security, CCTV, and heating under unified control through in-wall panels and a set of dedicated hand-held remotes. The interface includes full Sonos app control, and gate entry is managed within the same system; keeping the experience coherent for a family who simply wanted things to work.
As with every installation, the property is connected to a remote monitoring service. Should anything behave unexpectedly, support is on hand without the family needing to raise it. Peace of mind, quietly maintained.
