Premier League player gets a smart home

When a former premiership international approached leading systems integrator Konextions to upgrade his lifestyle, they knew they had a great opportunity to produce a smart house install that was in a league of its own.

The sporting star was keen to install all the toys, including a high-end cinema, whole home entertainment system and multi-room audio system, in his six bedroom property, along with security and environmental controls for his gym, swimming pool and games room.

AMX was chosen to control all these elements, as well as provide an intuitive interface that was going to be easy for the owner to live with. "The AMX system delivers real lifestyle benefits. This isn't technology for technology's sake," says Ian Myles, Konextions' director. "It's a robust system which not only provides the backbone of the entire offering but interfaces seamlessly with third party systems to deliver one, unified control solution."

A network of touchpanels, remotes and keypads were deployed to control the property's entertainment, lighting, security and environmental systems. Eleven 5-inch, three 5.2-inch and one 7-inch AMX Modero wall-mounted touchpanels were installed. Providing the brains behind the network were two NI-3100 NetLinx controllers (one held in reserve, in case a substitution was needed).

Modero ViewPoint wireless touchpanels were integrated throughout the property. A 10 inch Modero NXD-1000Vi wall-mounted model was positioned in the entrance hall, hooked-up to the door entry and intercom systems; an AMX Metreau Entry Communicator at the front gate allows one-way visual and two-way audio conversation with any visitors. A straightforward installation, the Metreau Commmunicator works over Ethernet and delivers clean video of any visitors to touchpanels and the household's TV network.

Konextions fitted multiple screens throughout the property, including six Pioneer plasmas, four LG LCD TVs and one Aquavision screen, all fed by an AMX Autopatch Optima matrix switcher. RBH in-ceiling and in-wall speakers were chosen to provide whole-house audio used in conjunction with a 16 zone ADA audio distribution system. Twelve AMX Mio Modero R-1 remotes, with distinctive backlit laser-engraved buttons and chrome hard buttons, offer instant access to the player's huge library of music.

The home theatre itself comprised a Cineversum Blackwing projector firing at a Draper Onyx fixed projection screen, with a Denon AV receiver and RBH speakers providing the audio. The whole shebang was driven by an AMX MVP-5200i touchpanel. 

Lutron lighting, allied to Metreau keypads, seemed an obvious choice, says Myles, as did a Sensible Heat Hometronic environmental automation system. Integrated into the AMX backbone, this provides unified control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The owner was keen to manage the property's not inconsiderable energy use as efficiently as possible. The Hometronic kit allows for precise control of 25 zones of underfloor heating, 20 Fujitsu air-conditioning units, four hot water tanks and assorted heated towel rails.

As an example of a fully integrated project, this AMX-based Konextions installation is clearly second to none. Build around a framework that's extraordinarily sophisticated, all aspects remain extremely easy to use. Unsurprisingly, the owner was over the moon with the job.  Ian Myles says the client was so delighted that he plans on replicating the system in his next property. Now that's what we call a result.