DESIGNS THAT SPARK INSPIRATION

The essence of the project sought to infuse the core of an original colonial home into more expansive contemporary extension deeper into the property. This exceptional infusion of colonial and modern architecture touching onto an elevated landscape overlooking Port Philip Bay creates one of Victorias most beautiful homes.

With expansive grounds meandering through mature gardens, pool and spa environments, a forest path also leads one through a clifftop gully down to a secluded beach. It’s easy to lose oneself in the overall project and feel immediately transported into something truly magical.

The client having previously lived in a fully automated home sought to expand pervious user experiences with a particular emphasis on solving living over a more expansive site in a more simplified way, and with a greater emphasis on solutions that made the habitable indoor and outdoor spaces more responsive with the interaction of smart lighting, comfort, and entertainment.

For outdoor entertaining, sound extends from Alfresco areas to pool and spa overlooking the waterfront. An automated hidden TV slides magically out from the Alfresco woodstore and is incorporated into the wider outdoor sound system for enhanced and diverse entertaining possibilities.

Music flows through a majority of indoor areas; fully controllable for independent room content through to shared music when entertaining or meandering through the wider home in a casual and relaxing way. Every space is joyous and fully adaptable.

A video distribution system allows for sharing multiple Foxtel services, Apple TV boxes and CCTV over the property, so choice in content, independent or shared with other rooms is instantaneously available. Across many of the rooms, from casual and formal TV rooms, bedrooms, cinema, and outdoor areas, it’s easy to enter the space, then select the music or TV experience desired in the moment and be spoilt for choice. An integrated TV and music system design further enhances the TV content fidelity solving generous open plan areas and spacious rooms. Smart room controls not only control entertainment but lighting, blinds, and air-conditioning, all with the convenience one would wish for.

Many rooms are fitted with hidden TV motorisation too, so the décor and elegant joinery makes for delightful rooms without TV’s being the dominant feature. Then through smart control, TV’s appear from cabinets, hidden wall cavities, or even a bed-end blanket box at the end of the bed solving for un-impeded views over the water. A mortised projection screen in the cinema transforms the room for cinematic viewing. This project truly emphasises how hidden technologies make an amazing difference to any interior design.

For lighting, the home has that wonderful blend of subtle indirect strip lighting to accentuate room design features and fitted joinery, decorative lights for greater enhancement of interior design, and task lighting to furniture and bedside-layouts. When entering any space, it’s effortless to select with one press, a choice of pre-configured comfort settings that creates the relaxation or task illumination desired for the moment while maximising the interior design statements.

Smart motion sensors allow convenient paths of light into ensuites, robes and quick walkthrough areas. Even soft glow light, automatically when entering a space late at night. Smart switches provide that additional convenience to transform the rooms with full personalisation, so the desired illumination is immediately adaptable.

Throughout the property, an extensive use of motorised blinds, external shades and skylights allow additional adaption of light, comfort, and privacy – all controlled from the smart light switches. So, when entering any space, its instantaneously simple to adapt the space, just how you like it.

When entertaining, retiring to bed, using the grounds at night, or staring off the day in the morning, one-touch scenes adapt the home systems for immediate convenience for all the services relied upon solving the typical living patterns. Its hard to image living in a home and property of this scale without the simplicity and convenience a smart design brings.

Over an expansive site, a security overlay allows peace of mind. Combined with CCTV, additional security is effortlessly at hand via touchscreens and smartphones too, at home or away. In fact, all the property services from entertainment, lighting, blinds, heating and cooling, intercom and security are instantly available through conveniently located touchscreens and all in one smartphone app anywhere. So, from any room when entertaining, roaming the grounds, or managing a delivery while away form the property, the connected convenience solves living across the whole property or away with ease.

When moving through the grounds, accessing the property from the street, or beach, or having service providers coming and from the property, secure keyless entry allows the level of secure keyless access and convenience for any family member or service provider to the property. And all easily manageable by the homeowner as needs change. And for impromptu deliveries, intercom anywhere and full gate control from smartphones or touchscreens ensures a safe delivery.

An important aspect of the project is in how the architectural, interior design and home automation was developed in unison so that every detail was able to be workshopped and designed holistically. The outcomes speak for themselves in a truly organic, responsive, and captivating home.

Its immediately appreciable how the meandering space appointed with soft comfort lighting creates an atmosphere for relaxation. Where on other projects, some basement entertaining areas having been constructed with limited space can feel enclosed, this generous open plan concept feels like being transported into a luxury hotel or private cruise liner. But you don’t have to pack your bags and travel!

A smart control design beautiful solves the space through activation of intelligent lighting with ease to any desired preference for comfort and entertaining for the occasion. Whether it be a virtual in-home round of golf at the premier courses around the world in the golf simulation area, a game of pool with friends, intimate drinks at the central bar through to casual large screen viewing or immersive Gold Class cinema experience, the possibilities are endless for an entire day or evening.
With the touch of a button, you experience adaptive lighting or with ease play and enjoy the worlds music – all at the appropriate level for the occasion. Or, just as easily access any shared Foxtel box in the home, a blockbuster Blu-ray DVD, or the worlds high definition streaming content on the 180” cinema screen with the stunning imagery drawing on the latest laser projection with optimal clarity. Even preview live CCTV cameras when a situation demands.

Behind a cohesive smart design, it’s all about creating ambience and experiencing engaging entertainment in the moment. And with effortless control, all the technology is hidden away for total simplicity, custom fit to allow the lighting, artwork and interiors come together. And as guest come and go, its so easy to manage intercom calls, release gates and doors and adjust outdoor lighting too.

A cleaver feature of the space is with the automation of motorised theatre drapery to extend from its retracted position from full open plan mode, to then cocoon and section off the cinema seating from the rest of the open plan area. This ensures intimate viewing, greater acoustic optimisation and allows the other open plan spaces to remain multifunctional beyond the cinema without light spill onto the cinema screen.

Being a multistorey home, the intelligent lighting and blind control extends through the house for comfort adaption through the upper levels and outdoor environments too. Extending to motorised window control, fresh air movement capability transforms the feeling of space too.

Video distribution sharing all the homes Foxtel boxes, CCTV viewing and content to other TV rooms allows shared and independent accessed for multiple TV rooms and cinema. The same expansion of the custom-fit music system also caries through the property for effortless entertaining and relaxation too.

Quickly, the smart home design provides access to all the entertainment and comfort services to solve simplicity and convenience when living in the multilevel home and property. This convenience further extends to conveniently located touchscreens, or smartphone control convenience too, over all levels and outdoor areas. With further incorporation of smart intercom, gate control, CCTV viewing, and security control, a perfect blend for feeling safe and secure, being entertained, managing controlled gates and doors, all with the satisfaction of comfort adaption complete a delightful home.

An important aspect of the project was to have a generator to provide guaranteed power to essential services during power disruptions to the street. So, in a power outage, the motorised gates, roller door, essential communications and priority power circuits ensure the basics are still available and access is maintained into a highly secure property. Integrated with the home control system touchscreens, its possible to see the state of essential power from the generator and state of the mains supply from the street in managing power outage situations.

Returning to the basement and considering the aspects of the solid, multilevel construction, the design considered the home structure creating numerous black spots for typical mobile phone reception. A tailored mobile phone re-distribution solution that re-broadcasts mobile coverage withing the house was implemented securing the reliance on mobile coverage day to day.