Private houses · West coast of Scotland

Home extension, west coast of Scotland: 7.1 surround, multi-zone audio and Control4 for a young family

Extending an already spectacular family home on the west coast, the owners asked Lairds for audio, video and a home cinema through the house and garden that was easy to use, could grow later, and kept every box out of reach of small hands. The whole system lives in a kitchen cupboard.

Client

Private family, west coast of Scotland

Site

A ground-up extension with open-plan kitchen and garden

Scope

7.1 surround, video distribution, multi-zone audio, outdoor lighting, Control4

Rack

Compact AV rack housed in a kitchen cupboard

The building

The extension was planned from the ground up for family life: a kitchen large enough for entertaining, cooking and relaxing, open-plan so the parents can keep an eye on the children, and a refurbished garden for the kids, friends and family. The owners already had Sonos and Control4 in the house and wanted to add to both with compatible products: more audio zones, distributed video, a cinema, and the outdoor space brought in. Functionality, control and the ability to add later were the priorities.

Hidden technology was the other. With a young family, the parents wanted every device on the network out of sight and out of reach. Working with the owner and their designer, we housed the whole system in a specially chosen compact rack inside a kitchen cupboard, where there was very little space to spare.

What we designed

A 7.1 surround sound system with an underfloor subwoofer, video distribution to the rest of the house on Pulse-Eight HDBaseT, and multi-zone audio that includes the garden on Sonance Mariner outdoor speakers, all brought together by Control4. Sonance architectural, low-profile ceiling and Extreme ceiling speakers carry the indoor zones; a Yamaha RX-A740 receiver and a Sonance subwoofer amplifier drive the cinema; the distribution amplifier has volume control per zone; and Rako external lighting is integrated with Control4 so the garden lights are on the same system as the music.

The underfloor subwoofer was the technical problem. A large subwoofer under a specialised floor finish needs an access point for maintenance that does not compromise the floor; we worked it out with the builders and the owner before the floor went down. See our smart home service.

The extension

Open-plan kitchen and living space in the west coast extension with screen and ceiling speakers

Lounge with screen and ceiling speakers in the west coast family home

Dining area of the extension with video distribution

Family living space in the extension, technology out of sight

Shower room with in-ceiling audio in the west coast home

What we handed over

A family extension with cinema sound, music in every zone including the garden, lighting on the same control, and not a box in sight. All of it on the Control4 and Sonos the owners already knew.

What went in

Control4 HC250 controller and SR260 remote
Sonance architectural, 8-inch low-profile ceiling and Extreme 6.5-inch ceiling speakers
Sonance underfloor subwoofer and subwoofer amplifier
Sonance Mariner Series outdoor speakers
Yamaha RX-A740 receiver
Pulse-Eight HDBaseT video distribution
Audio distribution amplifier with zone volume control; Sonos
Rako external lighting integrated with Control4