Project overview
This project consisted of the redevelopment of a duplex apartment in a 1960s tower block in central London. The apartment was gutted and the internal spaces re-organised to provide a modern two-bedroom, two-bathroom space.

Scope

• Intelligent lighting system, heavily based on scenes
• Dimmable lighting wherever possible
• Automated lighting in hallways and bathrooms, with reduced-level night mode
• Windows Media Centre surround sound system in living room
• Media Centre Extenders in bedrooms
• Multi-room audio distribution
• Efficient control of wet radiator and electric under-floor heating
• Full data, TV and telephone structured cabling distribution system

Customer expectation
The client wanted the apartment to be equipped with a smart lighting control system that would emphasise the mixed uses of the limited space, a multi-room audio system and a Windows Media Centre based whole-home video entertainment system.

A paramount concern for the client was that the visible parts of the system should look stylish and contemporary, and that the design should eliminate the wall-clutter that pervades most modern apartments.

The installation
The client chose contemporary gloss white switches with a black frame made by GIRA. This extensive range includes matching switches, power outlets, network points, speaker outlets, aerial sockets, heating controllers  and PIRs that can be integrated into a shared frame. By centralising all of the home's electrical accessories into a small number of frames, the wall-acne of most modern apartments has been avoided.

The home's radiators are fitted with electronically controlled  valves that are linked to temperature sensors in each room and to the central boiler control unit. Utilising energy efficient control algorithms, the GIRA heating controllers ensure that a constant temperature is maintained without the wide fluctuations that characterise traditional thermostats.

Extensive use has been made of room lighting scenes, together with area scenes such as Hello, Goodbye, Goodnight, Holiday Mode, Upstairs Off and Downstairs Off.

A Windows Media Centre PC, located  in a cupboard in the living room, with multiple terrestrial digital TV tuners, is linked to a flat panel TV with a surround sound bar. Media Centre Extenders in the bedrooms allow any programmes that have been recorded on the central system to be relayed upstairs.

After completion
After the initial design was approved and installed on-site, the installation was allowed to be 'lived in' for a number of weeks. Following this initial period, Baulogic returned to site and made a number of programming changes to tweak the system to meet the client's practical usage patterns.

The whole-home audio and video systems have been extended since the initial installation to include a Windows Home Server for centralised network storage and automated backup of the Windows Media Centres.