Multi-Room AV — Crestron Installation Mayfair, London

Multi-Room Audio Video in a Mayfair Apartment

This apartment in London’s fashionable Mayfair benefits from an ultra-discreet multi-room audio video system. Full HD audio and video distribution via a Crestron DigitalMedia system routes any video source to any display, with audio enhanced by plastered-in ceiling speakers. DAB radio, AirPlay and a digital music server allow streaming from any room or grouped across the whole apartment. Crestron lighting control rounds out the system, with the entire apartment managed from a custom-designed Apple iPad interface.

The Brief

The brief was to distribute HD audio and video to two bedrooms and two living rooms as discreetly as possible, without any compromise in quality, and to keep everything controllable from an iPad. Mayfair apartments typically have interiors designed to a standard that technology must not visually compromise, so every decision was tested against how the rooms would look once the work was finished. The system delivered on that brief while staying within the original budget.

Meeting it meant treating the apartment as one system rather than four rooms with their own boxes and remotes. Source equipment, distribution, speakers, lighting and control were designed together, drawing on our smart home, multi-room audio, lighting control, Crestron and networking services.

Crestron DigitalMedia Distribution

Sky HD, a Blu-ray player and Apple TV are distributed at full HD to four televisions around the apartment. Everything is centralised in a single equipment rack, and Cat5e cabling carries the signals to each display. The Crestron DigitalMedia system routes any source to any screen. The main living room also benefits from full surround sound.

Invisible Audio in Every Zone

Audio zones are served by plastered-in ceiling speakers: genuinely invisible, with no visible grilles and no compromise to the Mayfair interior. DAB radio, AirPlay and a digital music server are available in every zone, so music can play in one room or be grouped across the whole apartment. Multiple iPads allow different rooms to enjoy different sources simultaneously, with room grouping available for entertaining.

Lighting and Curtain Control

The main open-plan living room and kitchen have Crestron lighting control with scene recall from in-wall keypads or iPad. Curtain control is integrated into the same interface, so the curtains are part of each lighting scene rather than a separate system with its own switches. The custom iPad interface brings lighting, curtains and every audio and video zone together on one screen.

Mayfair — Discreet Technology in a Prime London Address

Plastered-in ceiling speakers, a centralised AV rack hidden from view and a single iPad interface rather than a wall of remotes are the elements that allow Custom Controls to deliver high-performance AV in W1 addresses without altering what the room looks like. Our London office is in the City, and our engineers work across the capital’s prime residential areas. Every Crestron system we install today is enrolled in our remote monitoring service, so most issues can be resolved before the client is aware of them.

Frequently Asked Questions — Mayfair Multi-Room AV

Can a multi-room AV system stay completely invisible?
Yes. This Mayfair installation uses plastered-in ceiling speakers throughout, with all source equipment centralised in a hidden rack — the only visible technology in any room is the television itself.

Can different rooms play different sources at the same time?
Yes. Multiple iPads allow each room to access Sky HD, Blu-ray, Apple TV or streaming independently, with the option to group rooms together for entertaining at a single button press.

Can lighting and curtains be controlled from the same interface as AV?
Yes. Crestron lighting control and curtain control are integrated into the same iPad interface as the audio and video system in this Mayfair apartment, with scenes also recallable from in-wall keypads.

How many rooms does the system cover?
The system serves four audio zones and four video zones across two bedrooms and two living rooms, all fed from one centralised equipment rack.

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Project Gallery

The images below show how little of the system is visible in the finished apartment. The first shows the custom Crestron iPad interface in use in the living room, and the second shows a living room television with no visible source equipment or cabling. The third shows a bedroom, where the television is set into the fitted joinery and the ceiling speakers are plastered in flush with the ceiling.