Luxury Smart Home Installer – High End Home Automation

Q: Can you design a smart home system for a large estate with multiple buildings?

Yes. Custom Controls design distributed rack architecture for large properties, typically a rack per building, a further rack per floor on larger structures, and one or two more serving the garden and grounds, all networked together under one system. Our flagship Dubai estate runs over 400 lighting loads across two villas and extensive grounds from eight coordinated Crestron processors, controlled as a single seamless system.

Five-time Crestron Integration Award winners. Bespoke Crestron, Lutron & Savant systems for London, Cheshire, Surrey, Dubai & the Alps since 1998.

Custom Controls are luxury smart home installers delivering integrated automation systems across London, Cheshire, Surrey, Dubai and the French Alps. We specialise in Crestron, Lutron and Savant systems for homes where design, reliability and integration matter, and we’ve been doing it since 1998.

We are five-time Crestron Integration Award winners and hold Crestron Dealer of Distinction status — awards judged against every Crestron dealer internationally, not a regional shortlist. Our wins include Best International Project for our Dubai estate, Best High Rise for our work at Claridge’s and Beetham Tower, Most Innovative Project for our Baker Street installation, and Best Lighting Design for our Derby project. We typically run active projects across several countries at any one time.

AV Systems

Lighting

Security

WiFi

Cinema

What a Smart Home System Actually Does

A luxury smart home integrates lighting, blinds, climate control, audio, video, security and access into a single unified system. Rather than managing each system separately, a smart home control system provides a single interface — touchscreens, wall keypads, mobile apps and voice control — to manage everything. Read our complete smart home guide covering every element of system design, platform selection and the installation process.

Platforms We Install: Crestron, Lutron, Savant & Control4

We install systems using Crestron, Lutron, Savant and Control4 platforms, each of which offers different capabilities and levels of integration. Crestron tends to suit larger installations with complex AV and multi-zone lighting; Control4 and Savant are often the better fit for simpler systems built around app and voice control. For clients building new homes or major renovations, we advise on system choice and control architecture from the design stage. Read our full Crestron vs Lutron vs Control4 comparison →

Our Flagship Project: The Dubai Estate

Award-winning Crestron smart home installation, Dubai

The most comprehensive Crestron residential installation we have delivered anywhere in the world. Eight Crestron processors managing 72 audio zones, 32 video zones and over 400 lighting channels across two villas and extensive estate grounds — five surround sound zones, five Kaleidescape movie servers, a dedicated cinema room, basketball court audio, garden fire pit control, swimming pool systems and a full IP CCTV network, all from a single Crestron interface accessible from anywhere in the world. This project won Custom Controls the Crestron Integration Award for Best International Project.

View the full Dubai estate case study → · Smart Home Installer Dubai →

Engineered for Scale — Distributed Racks for Large Estates

Scale is where we do our best work. A single-room automation upgrade and a full country estate share the same underlying design principles, but a large multi-building property demands a fundamentally different architecture — and it’s the type of project we have the deepest experience delivering. Rather than routing every device back to one central equipment cabinet, we design distributed rack systems: typically a dedicated rack per building, a further rack per floor on larger structures, and one or two more racks serving the garden and grounds. Every rack runs its own processing and is networked back to the same control system, so however many buildings, floors or acres are involved, the property is controlled as one seamless whole from a single interface.

The Dubai estate above is the clearest illustration of this approach: eight Crestron processors, working in concert across two villas and extensive grounds, deliver over 400 lighting loads and full AV distribution as a single, reliable system rather than a patchwork of separate installations. Distributing the processing this way isolates any fault to a single building or zone rather than the whole estate, keeps cable runs short and manageable, and gives the system headroom to expand as a property evolves. It’s a discipline we’ve built over 25+ years across large estates in the UK, Dubai and the Alps, and it’s where our track record for reliability at scale matters most.

How We Design & Install a Smart Home System

Smart home system design begins early in the project — during architectural design or renovation planning. We work with architects and interior designers to integrate control points, wiring, equipment locations and user interfaces into the building design. Once construction begins, we coordinate installation with contractors, supervise rough-in and finish work, and commission the system before handover. The same process applies whether the project is a single-room lighting upgrade or a full estate: design and specification, infrastructure and equipment deployment, then programming, testing and commissioning. Read our full guide to the installation process →

Smart Home by Location

We have installed smart home systems across London, Cheshire, Surrey, Dubai and the French Alps. For location-specific pages, contact details and case studies, see the links below.

Smart Home Installer London — full smart home automation across all London postcodes, from listed Georgian townhouses to new-build apartments
Smart Home Installer Cheshire — Crestron and Lutron systems across Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Prestbury, Knutsford and the wider North West
Smart Home Installer Surrey — premium automation for Surrey and the Home Counties
Smart Home Installer Dubai — luxury smart homes for Emirates Hills, Palm Jumeirah and across the UAE, with an established Dubai presence since the early 2000s
Smart Home Installer Alps — smart homes and chalets across the French and Swiss Alps

Integration

A luxury smart home integrates multiple systems — Lutron lighting, motorised blinds, Crestron audio/video, security, heating and access control. We design the control architecture to ensure all systems communicate correctly and respond to user commands reliably. Every system is programmed, tested and commissioned to standard before handover.

Support & System Takeovers

All smart home installations include training, documentation and ongoing support. We provide system updates, troubleshooting and maintenance to ensure your smart home performs reliably over time. We also take over and improve existing smart home systems installed by other companies — auditing, fault rectification and reprogramming. Read more about our system takeover and repair service →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a smart home system?
A single control system that unifies lighting, blinds, climate, audio, video, security and access — managed from touchscreens, keypads, a mobile app or voice control, instead of each system being operated separately.

Which control platform is right for my home — Crestron, Lutron, Savant or Control4?
It depends on the scale and complexity of the project. Crestron suits larger installations with complex AV and multi-zone lighting; Control4 and Savant often suit simpler systems built around app and voice control. We advise on the right platform during the design stage. See our full comparison →

Can you design a smart home system for a large estate with multiple buildings?
Yes — this is one of our core specialisms. Rather than a single central cabinet, we design distributed rack architecture for large properties: typically a rack per building, a further rack per floor on larger structures, and one or two more serving the garden and grounds, all networked together under one system. Our flagship Dubai estate runs over 400 lighting loads across two villas and extensive grounds from eight coordinated Crestron processors, controlled as a single seamless system.

Can a smart home system be retrofitted into a period or listed property?
Yes. We regularly install into listed and period properties, using wireless platforms and careful cable routing to avoid disturbing original features. Structural or wired options are available where the property allows.

Do you work outside the UK?
Yes. Alongside London, Cheshire and Surrey, we have an established, active presence in Dubai and the French Alps, with multiple international projects running at any one time.

How long does an installation take?
It varies considerably with scope — a single-room lighting update is a much shorter project than a full new-build specification across an entire property. We confirm a schedule with you once the design and specification are agreed.

Is training and ongoing support included?
Yes. Every installation includes user training, full documentation and ongoing support, so you and your household can use the system confidently from day one.

Can you take over or upgrade an existing smart home system installed by someone else?
Yes. We audit, repair and reprogram existing Crestron, Lutron, Control4 and Savant systems, whether the issue is a poor original installation or a system that’s simply fallen behind what you need. Read more →

Do you work on new-build projects from the design stage?
Yes, and we prefer to. Involving us early lets us integrate control points, wiring and equipment locations into the building design itself, rather than working around decisions that have already been made.