Project Name: Lion’s Den
Project Location: Maryland, United States
Award: Integration Awards 2014 Biggest, Baddest Home
This updated country home is the ultimate home for the avid technology lover, and someone who simply wants to go big AND go home! The 8,000 square-foot home was outfitted from head-to-toe with Crestron Digital Media, Sonnex, HVAC control and integration with the clients pool and spa, water features, over 280 loads of lighting, 6 PTZ cameras surveying the property and their enterprise level security system. The system includes whole house audio with 24 zones, 23 zones of DM® video distribution (with 4 more ready to go) spanning the main home and the pool house over Crestron Fiber, 4 zones of HVAC control, motorized gate control, full Rava-sip intercom capability as well as interfacing with intercoms at the front door and at the gate. All of this powered by the new, Crestron Pro3 processor.
This elegant home has all new Samsung 4K displays in almost every room with the homeowner wanting the biggest, baddest display they could have.
75-inch display in the kitchen? Check.
TV behind the mirror in the bathroom? Check.
A small video wall consisting of 4 65-inch displays in the billiards room so you can view every game at one time? Check.
All 23 displays share a bevy of sources ranging from the homes NVR system, 2 Kaleidescape players, 2 Apple TV’s, 6 cable boxes and plenty of room to grow as the family does. And for those evening events and parties which the family loves to throw? A top of the line outdoor landscape speaker system with 2 12-inch buried sub woofers and speakers hidden around the sprawling landscape which provide an amazing sound and great experience. The family’s dogs even have a private yard and an entrance to get into the home! Speakers cover almost every inch of the main two levels with speakers in the entire master level, both showers, outdoor loggia and easily are controlled from an interface customized with a floor-plan view representing their lovely home. Casaplex provided a state-of-the-art solution with a simplistic operational method. The entire home is controlled from either the client’s iPhone, any of the 4 10-inch TSW’s in the wall, 4 in-wall iPads or any of the 13 iPad mini’s placed around the property.
With Casaplex’s customized support portal integration with all iPads and touch panels, the client can communicate directly with the support team and enter tickets or submit questions with a touch of a button. When an issue may arise, the support team can remotely access and manage not only the clients network, but monitor the system, remotely upload changes/modifications or troubleshoot any hiccups the homeowner may experience.
iPad Home Control
This recently remodeled 8,000 square-foot home in Germantown, MD is completely integrated with Crestron automation solutions and controlled through a collection of handheld and in-wall Apple iPads. Through the unique Casaplex floor plan-based user interface on global Crestron touch screens and IOS devices, the homeowner has the ability to control every aspect of their property. The user has the ability to survey the property from all 6 PTZ IP Axis camera, select any of the 23 Samsung 4K displays in the home, operate the GE Concord alarm or any of the 24 distinct audio zones or 2 5.1 surround sound systems.
Why try and guess what each room is viewing/listening when you can see the icon overlayed on the floor plan showing what sources are currently in use. There is no need to recall any difficult descriptions of which cameras are located where, simply press the camera image in order to not only view the camera feed, but also have full control of all PTZ functions from their iPad. In addition, the app provides control for lights, HVAC, intercom, pool and spa, paging, and the ability to unlock the main gate with a push of a button. To allow an easy intercom system within the home with over 17 iPads on the system, Casaplex programmed and assigned groups for an easy floor by floor contact delivery system. When either the gate intercom or front door is pressed, the nearby IP camera pops up on the screen with the ability to communicate or unlock the motorized gate.
With a state of the hardware wireless network for both inside and outside the property, the client is not constrained to “hot spots” within the home in order to enjoy their system and can easily travel the home without losing connectivity. Even when traveling, the client has the ability to access and manage the system and remotely unlock the gate if they happen to be putting in a late night at the office.
It ain’t easy making it easy, but this home does it! And if there every is a problem? Casaplex created a customized support portal ticketing system within the interface to allow the user to enter tickets or simply communicate with the support team in case there are any issues. The comments are transmitted and logged into a ticketing system and the support team can communicate with the client directly 24/7.
Extremely Distributed Media
This Maryland home has 24 zones of audio and 23 zones of video distributed via a DM 32X32 switchers. All new, Samsung 4K TV’s are everywhere to allow this avid sports watcher the complete experience and never miss a second of any game.
- 2 65-inch displays behind the bar,
- 75-inch displays in each media room,
- 1 in the bathroom behind the mirror,
- 2 in the pool house
- 4 65-inch displays in the billiards room
- 1 75-inch in the kitchen
With each TV receiving Crestron Fiber, a flawless, reliable picture is provided throughout the home seamlessly with no issue. The owner has the ability to deliver the following to any of the 23 displays:
- 2 Kaleidescape M-class players
- 2 Apple TV’s
- NVR for the client’s cameras
- 6 cable boxes
Through the home’s 24 zones of audio, each are driven by a Sonnex™ multiroom audio distribution amplifier and can enjoy any of the aforementioned videos sources as well as an audiophile grade music server with 4 independent streams of networked music. Using the ability to operate any of the video or audio zones from an intuitive, floor-plan view of the home, anyone can walk right in and let the fun begin! In any of the rooms with multiple displays a visual representation of the layouts are created to allow selecting not only a display but the source you want to enjoy question-free. And by accessing the overall floor plan view, the homeowner can see what rooms are on with an image representing within each room what source is in use.
Awesome Audio
With 24 zones of audio, (2) 5.1 surround sounds and a full Crestron Sonnex backbone, this Maryland home is ready to turn up the noise for any party! With a simple interface, the home owners can navigate a collection of their favorites sources selecting from: (2) apple TV’s, their Kaleidescape servers, an audiophile grade media server providing 4 streams of networked music, (6) cable boxes. Each zone was calibrated and tuned to take into account the client’s lifestyle but also provide plenty of audio for entertaining. With speakers covering from the main entrance and the majority of the main floor, the solution expands out onto the Loggia and the backyard, where a landscape speaker system lies. Combining (2) in-ground 10-inch subwoofers and (10) landscape speakers engineered throughout the property to provide not just great sound but also a discrete look, any and all guests would certainly be impressed. With the pool house providing (4) outdoor speakers and 2 living spaces of their own, Casaplex provided a Sonnex fiber solution to allow a seamless integration with the main home and provided an outstanding network solution for both indoors and outdoors for continuous network connectivity as well as making Airplay as reliable as ever. All of this controlled through the clients (4) 10-inch TSW panels, (4) in-wall iPads or the 13 handheld iPad mini’s strategically placed through the property, or even their iPhone! The system is easily navigated and party-modes can be established by the owner by creating groups through a customized floor-plan representation of their home, depicting all of the zones and showing an image of what each room is listening to. Everyone says information is at their fingertips, but this system actually does it.
