Huge Crestron Home Automation System — Dubai

Summary

Crestron Integration Award Winner — “Best International Project” in EMEA
Five-time Crestron Integration Award Winners — Dealer of Distinction
72 x Audio Zones across Two Villas and Grounds
32 x Video Zones
5 x Surround Sound Cinema Zones
400+ Lighting Channels, 100+ Keypads
Full AC Control — 2 Villas via KNX Integration
Dedicated 8-Seat Home Cinema — Also Won Artcoustic Install of the Month
Basketball Court, Pool and Garden Audio Systems
Full IP CCTV and Gigabit Network
Garden Firepit Control

Crestron Integration Award Winner — “Best International Project” in EMEA

This Crestron installation in Dubai is the most comprehensive residential home automation system Custom Controls has delivered — and, when it was completed, one of the largest and most technically ambitious Crestron residential installations anywhere in the world. It encompasses everything home automation can offer: high-end audio video distribution, lighting control, air conditioning, enterprise-grade networking, WiFi, CCTV and access control across two substantial villas and their extensive grounds.

One villa houses the family; the other accommodates guests, staff, offices and classrooms. Both share access to grounds featuring a swimming pool, basketball court, lake and stream. Eight Crestron processors provide integrated control throughout the estate, communicating continuously to deliver seamless, unified operation. This project won Custom Controls the Crestron Integration Award for Best International Project in EMEA — one of five consecutive Crestron Integration Awards that earned us Crestron Dealer of Distinction status, unique in the EMEA region.

Audio Video Distribution — Two Villas and Gardens

The AV system is built around a Crestron 32×32 HDMI matrix. Any of five satellite TV receivers, five Kaleidescape movie players or four Apple TVs can be routed to any display in either villa or the grounds. Stereo audio distribution covers 72 zones via Crestron Sonnex, drawing from eight Sonos players providing internet radio and Spotify across all zones, with four dedicated Kaleidescape audio streams for high-quality music playback.

Artcoustic on-wall speakers in family and guest rooms are complemented by high-end in-ceiling speakers in bathrooms and communal spaces. The gym features the highest tier of Artcoustic speakers with subwoofers, two 65″ ceiling-hung TVs and a dedicated workout audio programme. Five surround sound zones include the master bedroom suite, kids’ playroom and the dedicated basement home cinema room.

The grounds are served by Origin Acoustics cabinet speakers suspended discreetly from palm trees, with sunken subwoofers at the pool and dining terrace areas. The basketball court has four cabinet speakers mounted on the floodlight towers with two subwoofers sunk into the court surface — delivering a level of outdoor audio quality rarely achieved in any residential project. Twelve iPads provide distributed control of every zone across both villas and the full grounds.

Dedicated Home Cinema Room — Artcoustic Install of the Month

The family villa houses a dedicated home cinema room designed from the acoustic shell outward — one of the finest private cinema installations we have completed. A 3.5m Screen Excellence screen with a SIM2 projector, 17 channels of Artcoustic surround sound with Anthem processing, eight Cineak reclining cinema chairs with backlit Onyx side tables, and a Kaleidescape movie server providing lossless audio and full-quality video. The room also has access to all whole-house AV sources via the Crestron matrix, so live sport, satellite TV and streaming are all available on the cinema screen at any time. The cinema design and installation won Artcoustic Install of the Month.

Smart Home

Music Systems

Mood Lighting

HVAC Controls

Security & CCTV

Wifi & Networks

Lighting — 400+ Channels Across Two Villas and Gardens

Over 400 Crestron lighting channels cover both villas, the gardens and all outbuildings, with over 100 keypads throughout. Simple keypads in each room allow one of three lighting scenes to be recalled or individual channels to be adjusted. A user-adjustable scheduler automates garden and external lighting at dusk and dawn — ensuring the estate always presents correctly regardless of whether anyone is on site. Garden firepit control is integrated into the same Crestron interface, operated from any touchpanel, keypad or iPad.

Air Conditioning and KNX Integration

A third-party KNX air conditioning system is seamlessly integrated via Crestron, providing precise room-by-room temperature control from any touchpanel or iPad. A dedicated house manager interface shows live temperatures across the entire estate and allows rapid zone reconfiguration for guest room preparation. The intelligent Crestron management of the KNX system means the estate operates at approximately half the energy consumption of an equivalent unmanaged property — significant across a Dubai installation of this scale where air conditioning loads are continuous and substantial.

Enterprise Network, WiFi and CCTV

An enterprise-grade gigabit network with WiFi access points throughout both villas and across the full grounds supports all AV, lighting, CCTV and climate systems operating simultaneously without contention. HD CCTV cameras run over the same managed network, viewable on any TV in either villa or via smartphone from anywhere in the world. The network was designed with full redundancy so that no single point of failure can affect the operation of any critical system.

Project Details

Location: Dubai, UAE
Scale: Two villas + full grounds including pool, basketball court, lake and stream
Audio zones: 72
Video zones: 32
Surround zones: 5
Lighting channels: 400+
Crestron processors: 8
Award: Crestron Integration Award — Best International Project in EMEA
Cinema award: Artcoustic Install of the Month