Crestron Installer Cheshire — Installation, Programming & Support

Crestron Installer in Cheshire, Manchester and the North West

Custom Controls are a Crestron installer serving Cheshire and the North West, with more than 25 years of experience designing, programming and installing Crestron home automation for luxury residential properties. Our Cheshire office is in Didsbury, Manchester, at 41 Whitelow Road, M21 9HG, and our engineers work across the whole county: Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Prestbury, Knutsford, Hale, Bowdon, Altrincham, Bramhall, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Chester and the wider Cheshire countryside.

We are 5 x Crestron Integration Award winners, unique in EMEA as the only company to have won the award five times, and five consecutive times. We are also a Crestron Dealer of Distinction. Cheshire is one of our most active markets. The county’s large detached houses, country houses, new build developments and estate conversions, many with garages, garden buildings and pool complexes alongside the main house, suit Crestron’s ability to run a whole property as one system.

Five-Time Crestron Integration Award Winners — Unique in EMEA

Five Crestron Integration Awards, won in five consecutive years. No other installer in EMEA has done it. The awards are judged by Crestron itself against entries from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Our award-winning entries were a Dubai estate with eight processors and 72 audio zones, a whole-home Derby lighting scheme built entirely on Crestron’s own fittings, two wins for Best High Rise in Europe at Claridge’s and the Beetham Tower, and the first Crestron Digital Media installation in the UK, on Baker Street. Open any award below to see the project behind it.

Best International Project — A Whole-Estate Crestron Installation, Dubai

Our most celebrated Crestron case study — and the project that won us the Crestron Integration Award for Best International Project — is a complete Crestron system spanning two large villas, extensive gardens, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a lake and a stream on a private estate in Dubai. Eight Crestron processors provide integrated control throughout, distributing audio to 72 zones, video to 32 zones and managing well over 400 lighting channels across both villas and the grounds. Five surround sound zones, five Kaleidescape movie servers, four Apple TVs, 24 audio sources and a full Crestron Sonnex audio distribution system serve the family villa, the guest villa, staff areas, offices and classrooms simultaneously.

The scope is perhaps best illustrated by its details: the basketball court has four cabinet speakers mounted on the floodlights with two sunken subwoofers; the garden fire pits are Crestron-controlled; the gym features Artcoustic speakers enhanced by subwoofers; and the master bedroom suite houses a bespoke Stax headphone system with a valve amplifier and DaVinci DAC for private listening. The dedicated home cinema room in the family villa seats eight in Cineak chairs with backlit Onyx tables, with a 3.5m screen and 17 channels of surround sound — one of the most comprehensive Crestron installations ever delivered in the residential market. Read the full case study →

Best Lighting Control & Design — A Whole-Home Lighting Installation, Derby

Where the Dubai estate shows what Crestron can do at maximum scale, this new-build home in the Derby countryside shows what it can do with lighting alone, done properly — the project that won us the Crestron Integration Award for Best Lighting Control & Design, and the first installation in the UK to use Crestron’s own dimmable LED fittings end-to-end, with nothing else involved in the lighting. Over 350 fittings across 200+ channels — each drawing roughly 18 watts while matching the output of a 50-watt halogen downlight — are managed through six distributed lighting racks for clean cabling and full redundancy. The client calculated that the entire house now uses the same lighting energy previously used by just the kitchen and dining room alone. Scenes, scheduling and remote access are available from the wall touchpanels, more than 50 keypads or an iPad, and every keypad is custom-engraved so each button says what it does.

Lighting sits alongside 24 audio zones and 16 video zones over Crestron Digital Media, full heating and air conditioning control, gate intercom distributed via touchpanels throughout the property, and a complete monitored security and CCTV system with automatic camera-follow logic — every part of it native Crestron, controlled from the same wall touchpanels and iPad interfaces used for everything else in the home. Read the full case study →

Best High Rise in Europe — Claridge’s Hotel Penthouses, Mayfair

Working inside the listed Claridge’s Hotel, we installed Crestron-controlled Loewe multimedia systems in two penthouse apartments of three rooms each — the project that won the Crestron Integration Award for Best High Rise in Europe. The interiors are listed, so no new cable routes could be created and nothing could be chased, drilled or rewired. Every decision about equipment and control started with the building rather than the product catalogue.

Every room has a Loewe LED TV and Blu-ray player. In the living rooms, 46-inch Loewe TVs are paired with upgraded audio: the Individual Sound Projector in one apartment and stand-mounted stereo speakers in the other, both supported by subwoofers. Wireless control removed the need for wall-mounted keypads or new wiring to each control position, which is what made a full Crestron system possible in rooms that could not be physically altered.

The design centred on the Crestron TPS-6X wireless touchpanel, which uses RF rather than WiFi for instant response and freedom from interference by neighbouring wireless networks. Each panel carries the Claridge’s crest in a bespoke finish, and guests reach the Loewe LED TVs, Blu-ray, Sky HD and hotel TV from one interface that had to be intuitive for guests of any nationality with no instruction. Read the full case study →

Most Innovative Control — The First Crestron Digital Media Installation in the UK, Baker Street

This 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. It also became an official Crestron case study. HD audio and video from Sky HD, ArabSat, Apple TV and a Kaleidescape server reach eight TVs over Cat5e cable, with an audio matrix feeding ceiling speakers in each room, including DAB radio.

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. The interface was programmed from scratch around the property and the people living in it, with weather feeds and local times for each of the client’s international home locations embedded on the touchpanel home page.

Lighting, heating, Hitachi air conditioning and an Axis IP CCTV system run from the same Crestron interface, on a mix of wired TPS-6L and wireless TPS-6X touchpanels, with iPhone control from anywhere in the world, including switching on the underfloor heating during the transfer from the airport. The Axis cameras are viewable from the client’s laptop or full-screen on a touchpanel at home, with a large storage server keeping all footage available for analysis. The interface is so intuitive that the client turned down training, and it is used regularly by non-English-speaking staff. Read the full case study →

Best High Rise in Europe — Beetham Tower Penthouse, Manchester

The top two floors of the 168.87m Beetham Tower, the highest residential living space in Europe at the time of installation, won us the 2009 Crestron Integration Award for Best High Rise in Europe and became an official Crestron Digital Media case study. The biggest challenge was not distributing audio and video but controlling the building management systems: underfloor heating, ventilation, swimming pool temperature and the irrigation for a 4,000 square foot rooftop olive grove, all from Crestron 6-inch touchpanels.

Bringing these systems under one controller means the client never deals with a separate thermostat, pool controller or irrigation timer. Temperature setpoints are adjusted room by room with a simple scroll and tap on the touchpanels, and the heating, ventilation, pool and garden sit in the same interface as the audio, video, lighting and security, so the whole penthouse is run the same way.

Alongside the environment sit eight audio zones and four video zones with a Kaleidescape server that stores the client’s DVD and CD collection so several different films or albums can play at once in different zones, and an FM tuner that is particularly popular in the his-and-hers bathrooms. More than 60 lighting channels and 25 keypads give direct scene recall around the apartment, and CCTV, including the private lift lobby, records on a rolling basis alongside a monitored alarm that notifies the concierge and the client, all in one interface. Read the full case study →

Alongside the awards, we are a Crestron Dealer of Distinction, Crestron’s higher dealer level, and we have been certified Crestron dealers since 1998, the year Crestron was establishing itself as the dominant residential automation platform in the UK. For over two decades we have remained continuously active in the Crestron ecosystem, installing hundreds of systems across every generation of Crestron hardware and software.

Crestron Installation in Cheshire — What We Deliver

Crestron Home Automation. The central intelligence of a smart home, managing lighting, AV, climate, security, access and blinds from a single, beautifully designed interface. We install both Crestron Home, streamlined and ideal for most Cheshire residential projects, and fully bespoke Crestron programming for the most complex briefs. For the large detached properties and estate houses common across Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Knutsford, the ability to manage several buildings, outbuildings and large grounds from one system is particularly valuable.

Crestron AV Distribution. Any source, from Kaleidescape and Sky to Apple TV and streaming, to any room in the property. Crestron NVX distributes 4K HDR video over the property’s IP network with no loss of quality. On our modern Cheshire cinema project, a Crestron distribution backbone shares the cinema sources with four displays and three additional stereo audio zones across a pool, gym and garaging complex.

Crestron Lighting and Shading. For most of our Cheshire projects we pair Crestron with Lutron Homeworks QSX or RadioRA 3 for lighting and shading. Lutron for lighting and Crestron for whole-home automation is the specification we use on the majority of our significant Cheshire installations.

Crestron Climate Control. Integration with underfloor heating, fan coil units, heat pumps and air conditioning under Crestron control, with zone-by-zone temperature management and scheduling across the property.

Crestron Security Integration. CCTV, video intercom, access control and intruder alarm panels, all managed within the Crestron interface. For Cheshire properties with gated entrances, detached garages and garden buildings, Crestron manages every entry point from a single interface. Read more about home security →

Crestron System Takeovers Cheshire

Cheshire has a significant number of properties with Crestron systems installed by companies that have since closed or moved on. We audit the existing installation, diagnose faults, reprogramme to our standard, upgrade hardware where needed and enrol the system in our remote monitoring service. Where equipment is still performing well we keep it, so a takeover is often a matter of new programming and documentation rather than new hardware.

Every takeover starts with a full assessment: we document the existing system, identify every issue and present a clear plan before touching anything. Where an equipment rack does not meet our standard we rebuild it, re-running and labelling every cable at both ends with proper separation between power, network and signal, and we hand over a full as-built schematic, something most of the installations we take over have never had.

If you have a Crestron system in your Cheshire property that is not working correctly, contact our Cheshire office. Read more about our system takeover, repair and renovation service →

Crestron Programming Cheshire

Our Crestron programming team write bespoke code for every Cheshire project, with no template programmes. We also offer programming-only services for Cheshire properties where the hardware was installed by another company.

Programming is done in-house by our own team, so the engineers who write the code are the same people who support the system afterwards. Before a line is written, we agree the scenes, schedules, interface layouts and keypad engraving with the household, then test every function on site before handover. Where another company installed the hardware, we can take over the programming, document the system properly and bring it up to date without replacing equipment that is still performing well.

Crestron Home and Bespoke Crestron

Crestron Home is the right platform for most Cheshire family homes, giving a polished, consistent interface that the household can adjust without an engineer visit. Fully bespoke Crestron programming is reserved for the largest and most complex projects, such as properties with separate entertainment buildings, estates with several structures or integrations with unusual third-party systems. Both are designed and programmed by the same in-house team, and we explain the trade-offs clearly at the first meeting so the choice is made on the brief rather than on habit.

Crestron Support & Maintenance Cheshire

Every Crestron system we install in Cheshire is enrolled in our remote monitoring service, so most faults are picked up and resolved remotely before the household notices them. We offer annual maintenance contracts with scheduled preventative maintenance visits, software updates and priority response, and our Didsbury-based engineers attend on site across the whole county whenever a visit is needed.

Cheshire Areas We Serve

Alderley Edge · Wilmslow · Prestbury · Knutsford · Hale · Hale Barns · Bowdon · Altrincham · Bramhall · Poynton · Macclesfield · Nantwich · Chester · Tarporley · Northwich · Frodsham · Congleton and all Cheshire postcodes. We also work regularly across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Yorkshire and the wider North of England.

All Cheshire projects are run from our Didsbury office, so design, installation and support stay with the same local team. Our engineers regularly work across the county’s country houses, new build developments and estate conversions, and we often join projects through local architects, interior designers and main contractors at the design stage. For clients with a second home in London or the Alps, every property can be designed and supported to the same Crestron standard.

Crestron Projects in Cheshire

Crestron sits at the heart of several of our Cheshire projects, from single garage cinemas to multi-zone entertainment buildings in the grounds of large country houses. The write-ups below describe what was installed in each, and the case studies that follow cover a Cheshire garden cinema and one of our award-winning whole-home Crestron installations in the North of England.

Entertainment Complex, Prestbury

An open-plan entertainment space in one of Cheshire’s finest halls, built beneath the gym of a new swimming pool and gym complex in the grounds. The room divides into a cinema, a pool table area, a lounge for nine and a kitchen, each with its own AV and lighting, all run by a single Crestron control system with Lutron lighting scenes. The cinema end has a 3.8m acoustically transparent screen, a ceiling-mounted Sony projector and Artcoustic speakers in a 5.2.2 format powered by a Trinnov receiver and amplifier package, with four bespoke Cineak Intimo seats and four bar stools behind. A 65-inch Samsung at the pool table shares the Sky, Apple TV and Amazon Fire sources with the main screen or runs independently, and the lounge has its own speakers for background music or the full cinema soundtrack.

Modern Cinema Room, Cheshire

A 6m x 7m cinema room within a new home entertainment complex that also includes garaging, a pool, a gym and extensive terraced seating. Beyond the cinema we provided audio video across the complex, with four displays and three additional stereo audio zones sharing the cinema sources over a Crestron distribution backbone, so a film paused in the cinema can be continued on a poolside display. The room was modelled in software before construction to optimise the Krix and Trinnov audio system, and the treatments and speakers are covered in fabric matched to the Little Greene Dark Lead walls. The lighting dims automatically when a film starts, the curtain spotlights and each row are independently controllable, the motorised Cineak Fortuny seats return to their home position when the room is switched off, and the rear row sits on a 300mm step for clear sightlines.

Garage Conversion Cinema, Hale

A double garage in Hale converted into a cinema room with no external evidence of the conversion. The up-and-over door stays in place to preserve the street scene, with an insulated acoustic stud wall behind it that houses the front speakers, the two subwoofers and a substantial quantity of acoustic absorption, all wrapped in fabric with the 3.8m screen mounted over it. A Sony laser projector and an Artcoustic 7.2.2 Dolby Atmos system serve a bespoke velvet wrap-around sofa, and the thick pile carpet was chosen for its acoustic contribution. Crestron control lets a single button press lower the screen, warm up the projector, select the right receiver input and recall the Lutron cinema lighting scene, and the Crestron app can switch the projector off remotely. Lutron lighting control runs the LED strip along the edges of the walls and ceiling and the recessed spotlights above the seating, with bright, cinema and cleaning scenes and slow, cinematic fades between them.

Frequently Asked Questions — Crestron Installer Cheshire

Are Custom Controls certified Crestron installers in Cheshire?
Yes. Custom Controls have designed and installed Crestron systems since 1998. We are 5 x Crestron Integration Award winners, unique in EMEA. We are also a Crestron Dealer of Distinction. Our Cheshire office is at 41 Whitelow Road, Didsbury, Manchester.

Can you take over an existing Crestron system in Cheshire?
Yes. We audit the existing installation, diagnose faults, reprogramme to our standard, upgrade hardware where needed and enrol the system in our remote monitoring service. We also offer programming-only services where another company installed the hardware.

Do you offer Crestron support and maintenance in Cheshire?
Yes. Every Crestron system we install is enrolled in remote monitoring. We offer annual maintenance contracts with scheduled preventative maintenance visits, software updates and priority response.

Which areas of Cheshire do you cover?
We cover the whole of Cheshire and the North West from our Didsbury office, including Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Prestbury, Knutsford, Hale, Bowdon, Altrincham, Bramhall, Macclesfield, Nantwich and Chester.

Does Crestron work with Lutron in Cheshire properties?
Yes, and it is our most common Cheshire specification. We pair Crestron automation with Lutron Homeworks QSX or RadioRA 3 for lighting and shading, as in our Prestbury entertainment complex, where one Crestron system runs the AV with Lutron lighting scenes.

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