A country estate built from the ground up: one control system for entertainment and lighting across a domed main house, a cinema-scale television outdoors by the pool, and a dedicated home theatre indoors.
Our client wanted a country home where the family could switch off as soon as they arrived, with room to host large gatherings and a private cinema of their own.
The challenge was to have the home already set when the family walked in, while keeping it easy to run across more than twenty rooms.
We designed the house around one moment: walking through the front door.
The door opens with a code, the foyer and living room lights come up to suit the time of day, music starts quietly in the background and the bedroom is already cool. From there, each room is run from a single remote, and it works the same way in the library as it does in the guest bedrooms.
Music can play in every room and out on the patio and garden, together or room by room. Films and TV are shared across the house, so something paused in the living room can carry on upstairs. Smoke and heat detectors, door sensors and cameras cover the whole property, and the family can check on the house from their phones wherever they are.
The Great Living Room is the main entertaining space, opening through curved glass onto the patio. We gave it a pair of tall floor-standing speakers for music worth sitting down to, and a TV that shows artwork until someone picks up the remote.
The dining room is built for big gatherings. A long line of light above the table comes up as guests sit down, the same music carries through to the kitchen, and a waterproof TV beside the counter means whoever is cooking can keep watching.
Outside, the speakers are hidden among the planting around the patio and outdoor bar, so the music reaches the garden with nothing in view.
We shaped the walls, finishes and seating so the sound stays clear and the room stays fully dark, giving the family and their guests a place to watch films together in private, laugh as loudly as they like and pause whenever they want. One touch dims the lights to a soft blue, wakes the screen and starts the film. The bedrooms were given the same thought on a smaller scale. A film started downstairs can be picked up in bed, and in the master bathroom the mirror turns into a television when it is needed.
