Country Retreat—Oxshott

A property originally owned and lived in by the developer was demolished and re-built to sell.

Our involvement

• Initial design and specification
• Total system design
• Cable run out schedules and CAD designs
• Managing and overseeing the first fix works
• Second fix installation and equipment supply
• System programming and commissioning
• Supply of Cyberhomes operating system manuals
• After-sales training and support

Key elements

• Hardwired and wireless networks
• Multi-room music system
• Audio and Video distribution
• Pre wired home cinema room
• Security and CCTV
• Lighting and Curtain control
• Intercom and access control
• In particular, it was essential that it could all be controlled in a convenient way

The controls should be comprehensive enough to provide ‘blanket’ coverage of all systems, yet intuitive enough to allow use by all in the house—even the less technically minded!

In order to fit in to the carefully planned decorative finishes of the house, it was decided to use Brass in wall key pads and touch screens to control audio and lighting, with bespoke surround bezels to match all the other electrical fittings. All speakers were in-ceiling Speakercraft 8” drivers, with their grills and surrounds painted in the same finish as the ceilings they were mounted in.

Home Automation and Lighting Control Systems

The lighting control was done using a Clipsal C-Bus system. Some parts of the house already had intelligent lighting control, and other areas were left conventional. One of the client’s requests was that in this new phase of works, the whole house needed to be on the system. This proved to be quite a challenge as original circuits had to be re routed to dimmer panels located on the ground and first floor.

What it meant, however, was that all the lights could be turned on or off with a single button or from arming and disarming of the security system. It also meant that lights could be controlled on movement, for instance the first floor landing floor lights are activated by movement sensors after 11.00pm creating illuminated walk ways without the need to press a switch. On entering the property after dusk, door contacts would turn on the lights in hall ways welcoming the owner into the property.

In larger areas touch screens were installed. In the Drawing Room a touch screen with six pre programmed scenes was fitted giving the client an array of moods for the room depending on the occasion. It would also be possible to talk to callers at the gate and open the gate via these panels.

On leaving the property the house would go into occupancy simulation and play back a programme to give would be burglars the illusion that the property was occupied. Both the main car gate and the side garage are electrically operated; the client is able to open them from pressing a button on any touch screen within the property.

Security and  CCTV

There were four cameras in total, three external and one internal covert camera, concealed inside a movement sensor. The client specified that he would like to be able to view his entire perimeter of the property from any plasma within the home. At night the cameras were able to see in the dark as they had built in infra red LEDs to illuminate the area in black and white.

The security system was set to dial out to the client’s mobile phones when there was a break in or fire. The door phone at the gate could even dial out to a mobile phone to and have a full two way conversation with somebody at the door. This is a very useful tool to catch someone that you may have missed and also can be used to pretend that you are in when you are actually out.

When the client is at home the door-phone dials straight through to the internal phone system, this enables the client to talk to someone at the gate and also open both the electric side garage and the main car gates from pressing keys on the telephone keypad. This whole operation can be viewed from any plasma within the property.