Do you install smart homes outside London?

Yes. Custom Controls have offices in London and Cheshire covering the whole of the UK, with an Alps office in Montriond for French and Swiss Alpine projects. We also regularly work internationally, with active projects in Dubai, Morocco, France and Spain. We have been delivering smart home installations worldwide since 1998.

Luxury Smart Home Installation

Bespoke smart home design and installation for exceptional properties — Crestron automation, Lutron lighting control, whole-home AV, enterprise WiFi and security, unified in a single elegant interface. London, Cheshire and worldwide since 1998.

The Smart Home Done Properly

A well-designed smart home removes complexity from daily life rather than adding to it. Lighting that adjusts to the time of day. A cinema room that sets itself when you sit down. Heating that knows when you are on your way home. Blinds that close at sunset without being asked. Security that monitors the property intelligently and reports only what matters. All of it controlled from one interface — a wall-mounted touchpanel, an app or a voice command — and all of it working quietly in the background without requiring instruction. This is what Custom Controls deliver. We have been designing and installing smart home systems for luxury residential properties since 1998, and in that time we have installed hundreds of systems — from single-room AV installations to whole-estate automation projects spanning multiple buildings. Our most celebrated project, a private estate in Dubai, runs eight Crestron processors controlling 72 audio zones, 32 video zones and over 400 lighting channels across two villas and extensive grounds. Every project between that and a single-room cinema installation is approached with the same rigour: designed properly, programmed bespoke, and supported for as long as it runs.

We are certified Crestron dealers and certified Lutron dealers — and have been since 1998. We are five-time Crestron Integration Award winners. We are not generalists who offer smart home as one service among many. It is all we do.

Smart Home

Music Systems

Mood
Lighting

HVAC
Controls

Security & CCTV

Wifi & Networks

What a Custom Controls Smart Home Can Include

Every smart home we design is bespoke — built around the specific property, the specific brief and the specific people who live there. These are the systems we design and install, either individually or as part of an integrated whole-home system.

Crestron Home Automation
The central intelligence of a smart home. Crestron manages every system in the property from a single, bespoke interface — programmed to respond precisely to how the household lives. Scenes, macros, schedules, occupancy-based control and remote access are all standard. We install both Crestron Home (streamlined, faster deployment) and Crestron Custom (fully bespoke programming for the most complex projects). Read more about Crestron →

Lutron Lighting Control
The world’s leading dedicated lighting control system. Lutron handles all lighting and shading — dimming every circuit with flawless precision, recalling scenes at the touch of a keypad and managing motorised blinds and curtains as part of the same interface. We specify Lutron Homeworks QSX for large new builds and major renovations, and Lutron RadioRA 3 (fully wireless) for retrofits. Read more about Lutron →

Whole-Home Audio and Video
Any source — music, film, sport, streaming — distributed to any room in the property at the touch of a button. We use Crestron NVX for 4K video distribution and Crestron NAX for multi-room audio, alongside Sonos, Kaleidescape and high-end hi-fi for clients who want nothing less than the best. Read more about whole-home AV →

Home Cinema
Dedicated cinema rooms, media rooms and open-plan entertainment spaces — designed from the acoustic ground up, calibrated to the room, integrated with Crestron and Lutron for seamless one-touch operation. From a £30,000 dedicated room to a £750,000 IMAX Enhanced screening facility. Read more about home cinema →

Lighting Design and Control
Layered lighting schemes designed around the architecture — ambient, task, accent and decorative layers combined with Lutron scene control and motorised shading for rooms that look and feel exactly right for every occasion. Read more about lighting control → · Read more about lighting design →

Enterprise WiFi and Networking
The network is the foundation of every smart home. Consumer routers and mesh systems are inadequate for the demands of a professionally installed smart home at this level. We design and install enterprise-grade wired network backbones with professional access points — reliable, fast and managed centrally. Read more about home WiFi →

Security and Access Control
CCTV, video doorbells, alarm panels, smart locks and access control — all integrated within the Crestron system and accessible from anywhere in the world via the Crestron app. Read more about home security →

Why Crestron and Lutron — and Why Together

The question we are asked most frequently by clients who have done their research is: why do you specify both Crestron and Lutron rather than one or the other? The answer is that each does what it does at a level the other cannot match. Lutron has been a dedicated lighting control specialist since 1961 — the quality of their dimming technology, their keypad design and the long-term reliability of their systems reflects sixty years of singular focus. Crestron is the most powerful and flexible home automation platform in the world — capable of integrating virtually any device, programming any behaviour and presenting any interface the brief requires. Combining the two gives you the finest lighting system available inside the most capable automation platform available. It is the specification that the most demanding residential clients choose, and the one we know better than any other combination.

We are certified dealers for both. We have been delivering Crestron and Lutron combined installations since the late 1990s. It is the configuration we specify on the majority of our significant residential projects. Read more about Crestron → · Read more about Lutron →

The Process — From Brief to Handover

Consultation. We visit the property — or meet at our London or Cheshire office — to understand the brief, the scope and the budget. Most projects begin with an informal conversation rather than a detailed specification.

Design. We produce a full system design — room by room, device by device, circuit by circuit. For new builds we work alongside the architect and main contractor from first fix. For retrofits we design around the existing infrastructure. Every design is documented in drawings that go to the contractor as a working specification.

Pre-build. Every Custom Controls system is pre-built, programmed and tested at our workshop before arriving on site. Equipment racks are wired, labelled and configured. Software is written, debugged and tested. What arrives on site is a finished system, not a collection of components.

Installation. On-site installation is precise and efficient because the system has already been built and tested. Cable terminations, device installation, rack commissioning and interface configuration are completed to our standard — which means clean, labelled, documented and understandable by anyone who needs to work on it in the future.

Calibration and commissioning. Every system is fully commissioned — AV calibrated, lighting scenes programmed, automations tested and client preferences configured before handover. We do not leave a system incomplete.

Handover and support. We demonstrate the completed system, provide a written guide to operation and configure remote monitoring. We are notified of issues automatically and resolve the vast majority remotely before the client is aware of them. We are still maintaining systems we installed in the late 1990s.

Smart Home Installations Worldwide

Our London office covers the capital and Home Counties. Our Cheshire office covers the North West and beyond. Our Alps office in Montriond, Haute-Savoie, covers the French and Swiss Alps. We also work internationally — Dubai is our most established international market, with active projects across Emirates Hills, Palm Jumeirah and District One. Beyond Dubai we regularly work in Morocco, France, Spain and across West Africa. Our pre-build methodology means international projects proceed with the same precision as domestic ones — every system is fully assembled and tested at our UK workshop before shipping. Read more about our international service →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a smart home system?
A smart home system places a central controller over all the electrical systems in your home — lighting, AV, heating, security, motorised blinds and access control — allowing them to work together and be operated from a single interface. Custom Controls use Crestron for automation and Lutron for lighting and shading — the combination we recommend for most high-end residential projects.

How much does a smart home system cost in the UK?
Custom Controls projects start from £25,000 for a meaningful whole-home system. Projects combining Crestron with Lutron across a large property typically run from £60,000 to £150,000 or more. We provide free, detailed, no-obligation quotations. Contact us to discuss your project. →

Which smart home system do you recommend?
Crestron for automation, Lutron for lighting and shading — either Homeworks QSX for new builds and major renovations, or RadioRA 3 for retrofits. For projects with faster deployment requirements, Crestron Home or Control4 are strong alternatives. We install all of these and recommend honestly based on each project.

Can a smart home be retrofitted to an existing property?
Yes. Crestron retrofits well. For lighting, Lutron RadioRA 3 is fully wireless — no rewiring required. We regularly install smart home systems in occupied properties with minimal disruption to the household.

Do you offer smart home system takeovers?
Yes. We regularly take over support and maintenance of smart home systems installed by other companies — diagnosing faults, updating programming, upgrading hardware and bringing systems up to our standard. If you have inherited a smart home system that is underperforming, contact us.

Luxury Smart Homes

Luxury Smart Home Installation