Award-Winning Crestron Installation — Baker Street, London

Crestron Award: Most Innovative Control Solution

This stunning modern townhouse near Regent’s Park was the first Crestron Digital Media installation in the UK — and won the pan-European 2010 Crestron Integration Award for Most Innovative Control Solution. A Crestron whole-home system distributes HD audio and video to eight rooms, controls lighting, heating, air conditioning and CCTV, and allows the client to manage everything remotely from anywhere in the world. The project went on to become an official Crestron case study.

Whole-Home HD Audio Video

The Crestron Digital Media system distributes any audio video source — Sky HD, ArabSat, Apple TV, a Kaleidescape DVD server and whole-home CCTV — to any of eight TVs simultaneously over Cat5e cable. An audio matrix allows audio from any source to play through ceiling speakers in each room, including DAB radio. This was the first time Crestron Digital Media had been installed in the UK, and the project became an official Crestron case study.

Centralising the sources means one Sky HD, ArabSat, Apple TV and Kaleidescape installation serves the whole house rather than a box beside every television. The Kaleidescape server holds the client’s film collection for instant access in any room, and the CCTV cameras appear as just another source on any screen.

Audio and video are one part of a system that also runs the lighting, heating, air conditioning and security, all from the same Crestron interface. The services behind this award-winning townhouse are shown below.

Crestron Control and Lighting

A mixture of wired Crestron TPS-6L and wireless TPS-6X touchpanels allow easy control from lights to heating. The interface is so intuitive the client turned down training — and it is regularly used by non-English-speaking staff. Weather feeds and local times for each of the client’s international home locations are embedded on the touchpanel home page. iPhone control allows audio video, lighting and heating to be managed from anywhere in the world, including switching on underfloor heating during the transfer from the airport.

A system that controls this much is only useful if everyone in the house can operate it without instruction, which is why the interface design mattered as much as the hardware. Full lighting control runs throughout the property on the same Crestron system, so lighting, AV and climate are all set from one screen rather than separate switches, remotes and thermostats. As with every system we install, the interface was programmed from scratch around the property and the people living in it.

Axis IP CCTV and Air Conditioning

A state-of-the-art Axis IP CCTV system provides high-resolution cameras viewable from anywhere in the world via the client’s laptop, or full-screen on a touchpanel at home. A large storage server ensures all footage is available for analysis. Hitachi air conditioning across multiple zones is controlled from the same touchpanel interface, and can be switched on remotely before the client arrives from the airport.

Bringing security and climate control into the same Crestron system as the AV and lighting means the house can be checked and prepared from abroad in one app. The cameras can be viewed on the touchpanels and televisions at home, and the air conditioning and underfloor heating can be set for the family’s arrival while they are still on the way from the airport.

Bowers & Wilkins Home Cinema

The home also features a dedicated basement home cinema room with 7.1 Bowers & Wilkins CM9 surround sound, a 50″ Panasonic Plasma and full Crestron control. It draws on all the same centralised Sky HD, Kaleidescape, ArabSat and Apple TV sources as the rest of the home via the same Crestron Digital Media system. It is one of Custom Controls’ earliest documented home cinema case studies, and reportedly has the most daily use of any cinema we have installed — used every day by the children when the family is in residence, and by the clients as a couple after bedtime.

Frequently Asked Questions — Baker Street Crestron Installation

Why was this installation significant for Crestron in the UK?
It was the first Crestron Digital Media installation in the UK, and the project went on to become an official Crestron case study as well as winning the pan-European 2010 Crestron Integration Award for Most Innovative Control Solution.

Is the basement home cinema part of this same Crestron system?
Yes. The basement home cinema room draws on the same centralised Crestron Digital Media sources as every other room in the property, controlled from the same Crestron touchpanel interface throughout.

How easy is the system for non-technical users or staff?
The interface was so intuitive the client turned down training, and it is regularly used by non-English-speaking staff.

Can the house be controlled from abroad?
Yes. iPhone control allows audio video, lighting and heating to be managed from anywhere in the world, the Axis IP cameras can be viewed remotely from the client’s laptop, and the air conditioning can be switched on before the client arrives from the airport.

How many rooms does the system serve?
The Crestron Digital Media system serves eight HD video zones and eight audio zones, distributing any source to any of the eight TVs over Cat5e cable.

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Project Gallery

The photographs show the Crestron system in daily use throughout the townhouse, from the living room to the kitchen and bedrooms. Touchpanels sit alongside the televisions in each room, giving the same interface wherever the client is in the house. The bedroom images show the entertainment systems served by the centralised Crestron Digital Media sources.