Stately home smart technology retrofit in one of Ayrshire most prominent and historic stately home estates had been converted into a number of stunning apartments.
Situated approximately 25 miles southwest of Glasgow in west central Scotland, Coodham is roughly equidistant between the three main towns centres in Ayrshire: Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr. Just off the A77 trunk road, Coodham is only 45 minutes from Glasgow city centre.
The Retrofit Challenge
Although the estate and stately home is exquisitely attractive, the development of the estate and its properties has had a bit of a chequered past. For instance, these apartments had been badly cabled. Moreover, it seemed that any cabling had been an afterthought. Low quality coax and Cat5 thrown in. Similarly, no plans or schematics for routes, terminations or connections were available. Although lighting control had been installed it wasn’t operational and no documentation could be found. This particular flat was fully finished and decorated and the new owner was looking for a near invisible but high performance system that would endure and entertain.
The challenge was evident. The challenge was accepted.
Our requirement here was to implement a suitable system and install the required infrastructure to bring them up to the standard expected from this level of property. Moreover, without impacting on the existing finishes of the property.
From the outset this was the challenge to beat all challenges. To clarify, the floors were solid oak wood, the skirting and doors all matched.
The Scope
The main focus of the retrofit project would be the surround sound system and big screen in the lounge. Followed by a centrally managed wireless network. Secondly, a centralised lighting control. Thirdly, video distribution throughout the property and lastly, multi-room audio. Finally, it’s controlled centrally from an app or panel based system.
The Pièce de résistance would be the curved walls of the room and the fact that the owner demanded the most minimal of audio system visibility but the maximum in performance!
The Method
How complicated can a technology upgrade be? Upon substantial investigation in this stately home smart technology retrofit we made use of the buildings voids. Luckily for us, the rooms were effectively framed rooms within rooms. Certainly not an easy process but we managed it nonetheless.
We couldn’t determine any routes or terminations for existing wiring and therefore condemned it and ripped it out. We had to plan a new route for the external connections to the property and centralise any connections. Wifi was a big contribution to this project. Due to the construction using a lot of steel framing, Ruckus was the go to choice to obtain the required coverage.
Curved walls with embedded invisible speakers of this size was certainly an experience. Once we opened the walls to determine the void behind we built frames to hold the acoustic back-boxes and with millimetre perfect precision fitted the speakers. Actually convincing the plasterer that he could plaster over the speakers was an interesting conversation!
Speakers installed, fully calibrated and plastered and the room painted.
Then came the TV. We installed A 75″ Samsung Smart TV. And looked fantastic. A truly modern experience. But something was missing…
In keeping with the architecture and design of the property we suggested a custom built frame. Complete with a professionally taken photograph of the property printed on canvas and automated to cover the screen when the power is off. The result?
The smart technology equipment:
State of the art ‘invisible’ speakers by Stealth Acoustics,
Amplification by Sonance and Yamaha,
UltraHD video distribution from Pulse Eight,
Multi zone audio and speaker system from Sonance.
75″ Screen from Samsung.
Wireless connectivity was achieved using Ruckus Unleashed.
The fully bespoke custom built picture frame for the TV. We took moulds from the frames of the clients extensive art collection and recreated them for this project. Automation and motor by Somfy. Image by one of Ayrshire’s most exclusive art photographers at Imagini.
The entire property and its lighting was automated using RTI, XP6 complete with TX2 Remote Control and KX2 Touch panels.
