Rozelle Residence

For the lighting side of the project, LEDs were used throughout, with RGB LEDs used to illuminate the courtyard and a fountain located in a glass-roofed enclosure below ground level at the original front of the property. A combination of Signify Dynalite controllers was used throughout the project, including DDLE802 leading-edge, DDRC1220FR-GL relay, DDBC1200 ballast and DDMC802 multipurpose controllers. These were interlinked into a single network using Signify Dynalite’s sophisticated peer-to-peer communications serial bus network, DyNet.

Dynalite DR2P keypads were used, featuring stainless steel fascia, charcoal buttons, blue LED indicators and white LED backlights, although much of the system is automated through the use of a built-in DDTC001 timeclock and DUS804C sensors.

Different lighting scenes can be achieved through a combination of automated settings and by means of user preference. When you enter the property from the garage, a ‘welcome home’ button illuminates a pathway through to the living room. A ‘goodbye’ mode locks everything and turns everything off and a ‘holiday’ mode turns off the floor heating, shuts down the house and activates a pre programmed cycle of lights to make it look as though somebody is at home.

In addition to these settings, in the master bedroom there is a ‘his’ and ‘hers’ switch to turn off all lights downstairs at night. For entertaining, a preset lighting configuration is activated for the main living and courtyard areas. This can be fine-tuned through the RTI software on the iPad, so the amount of red, blue and green light can be adjusted via slider controls.

Integration was provided to the external louvres and motorized blinds in the media room, motorized blinds in the third bedroom — which can be a bit of a suntrap — and to the vergola in the ensuite. Floor heating is also integrated to allow the four zones to be manually turned off via the DR2P keypads.

The AV systems were probably the most involved aspect of the integration, with separate systems for the media room and the living room. In the media room, a motorized projector screen drops down from the ceiling, with control for the projector, TV and AV system possible through the iPad. Equally, in the living room the iPad allows control of the TV, home theater system, five speakers and a subwoofer. Additional speakers in the ensuite, master bedroom and courtyard can also be controlled via the iPad.

The main challenges on this project revolved around the amount of space there was to work with. The hardware of the system was difficult to keep out of sight, this issue was solved with the use of a couple of system racks that roll out of a cupboard to house the structured cabling, data and telephone points and the AV equipment.

The building type also presented problems for cabling. There are a number of tall glass windows, steel frames on the doors and polished concrete floors, all of which restrict where cables can be run through the property. However, clever design helped enable the maximum functionality to be incorporated seamlessly in a way that feels clean, fresh and stylish.