About the project
At The Old Police Station in Horsforth, Leeds, Clearly Automated fitted a full Lutron HomeWorks QSX lighting system alongside Palladiom blackout and sheer roller blinds. The Lutron Homeworks QSX system formed part as part of a full change-of-use redevelopment converting the historic building into a short-term-let aparthotel.
Clearly Automated is a an award-winning Lutron installer in the UK. We’re the winner of Judges’ Choice at the 2019 Lutron Excellence Awards and Best Palladiom, Sivoia QS or Triathlon Shading Project at the 2021 Lutron Excellence Awards.
The Brief
The operator wanted lighting control and automated blinds that stayed simple for guests passing through for a few nights, rather than a system a homeowner might spend months learning. For the blinds, the requirement was straightforward – blackout for sleeping, sheers for daytime privacy and sunshade. Lighting scenes needed to shift automatically at dusk and dawn, so guests wouldn’t have to think about adjusting anything themselves. Delivering that meant working alongside the interior design team, the lighting designers and the site contractors from an early stage, coordinating our first-fix and control wiring around a full strip-out and rebuild rather than retrofitting into a finished space.
The operator wanted lighting control and automated blinds that stayed simple for guests passing through for a few nights. It needed a Lutron system that is intuitive and easy to use.
For the blinds, the requirement was blackout for sleeping, sheers for daytime privacy and sunshade. Lighting scenes needed to shift automatically at dusk and dawn, so guests wouldn’t have to think about adjusting anything themselves.
Delivering that meant working alongside the interior design team, the lighting designers and the site contractors from an early stage. We coordinated our first-fix and control wiring around a full strip-out and rebuild rather than retrofitting into a finished space.
The Build
The heart of the system is a centrally housed Lutron HomeWorks QSX installation. All lighting and blind circuits for all five apartments and the conference room terminated back to a single processor and dimming panel in the plant room. Each apartment’s lighting scenes can be set and adjusted on its own Palladiom wall stations without affecting any other unit.
The blinds follow the same dual-layer logic throughout – a blackout roller for sleeping and a sheer roller for daytime privacy and sunshade in every bedroom and open-plan living space. Most apartments use Son30DCT double roller blinds sized to their windows. But the largest bedroom was fitted with a bespoke bottom-up tensioned roller system in both blackout and sheer, concealed behind dual and single Lutron pockets to keep the mechanism hidden on a larger window.
Twenty Palladiom wall stations give guests simple, direct control at the door, by the bed and in the living space.
Equipment installed:
Lighting control (HomeWorks QSX system):
- Lutron HomeWorks QSX Processor (HQP7-1)
- QS Power Supply (QSPS-DH)
- 9 × QS IO Card (QSE-IO)
- 2 × 4-zone 1A dimming module (LQSE-4A1-D)
- 13 × 4-zone 5A dimming module (LQSE-4A5-D)
- 10 DIN rail panel with RCBOs (LCP-10-18)
- 4 DIN rail panel with RCBOs (LCP-4-6)
- 16 × Palladiom 2-column wall station, Black, pre-engraved
- 4 × Palladiom 1-column wall station, Black, pre-engraved
Blinds (across five apartments and the conference room):
- Lutron QS Bottom-up rectangular roller blinds, Sheer and Blackout (feature apartment)
- Lutron dual and single pocket concealment, Aluminium (feature apartment)
- Son30DCT double roller blinds, Sheer and Blackout (remaining apartments and conference room)
- 2 × Lutron QS 35V power supply
The results
The result is a lighting and blinds system built for guests who won’t spend more than a few nights learning it. Scenes shift automatically at dusk and dawn, so lighting adjusts through the day without anyone needing to think about it, and blackout and sheer blinds give every apartment straightforward control over privacy and light.
Working alongside the interior design and site teams from the early stages of a full gut renovation meant the control wiring and Palladiom stations were built into the redevelopment from the outset, rather than retrofitted once the interiors were finished.
The Old Police Station now operates as an automated aparthotel, with lighting and window treatment handled to the same standard across all five apartments and the conference room.
