About the project
This remarkable South facing property in the English Lake District has stunning panoramic views over Ullswater. The essence of the design of this property was to maximise the stunning views, and to let as much light in, with large windows and glass doors on all elevations, including the roof and a double height apex window.
The Brief
The client’s brief for the blinds was to provide privacy when the property was not in use, and to reduce the heat in the open plan living area, whilst retaining some of the view, when they were in residence.
Home automation was high on the clients list as well as a state-of-the-art cinema room with luxurious seating for up to 8 people. As the clients lived abroad, it was imperative that the home automation solution had remote access for control purposes, and the security is of paramount importance.
The Build
Our design team working on the three different window treatments took a holistic approach, using the same fabric but different manufacturers for the three different types of mechanical solutions required.
The most challenging window was the Apex, since it was frameless with a narrow centre mullion, no cross bars, and very little room in the ceiling above. The client would not accept any part of the blind showing when in the open position and didn’t want to see a frame or top bar when in the closed position. We designed two trapezoid blinds and used Lutron QS drives, set into the floor, with the top springs neatly hidden into Roller 64 pockets. The client wanted the same blind fabric throughout the property so we worked with Mermet to ensure that the same fabric was supplied to Lutron and the apex blind manufacturer.
For the skylights, the size and shape of the glass dictated that 230v tensioned blinds were the only option . Powering them from Lutron motor modules allowed seamless and simultaneous operation of all the blinds on the project.
We installed Homeworks QS throughout the property, with some Crestron Touchscreens, so the homeowner had total control of all the blinds via the Lutron keypads, the Lutron Connect app, and the Crestron touchscreens and app.
The cinema we created has a full Dolby Atmos experience with a 7-4-2 speaker configuration controlled by a Crestron control system coupled with Lutron lighting control.
Equipment used includes:
- Lutron Control system
- Lutron Sivoia QS Roller Blinds 64
- LutronApex 4373mm QS Roller 100
- Lutron Bottom-up Blind
- Crestron control system
- Crestron touchscreens
- Guthrie Douglas skylights: TESS 600 Zip Screen Tension System
- Artcoustic System 7.4.2
The results
The clients were delighted with our solution, expressing that we had exceeded their expectations and that opening the blinds on their first summers morning to reveal the full view of the lake was truly magical. When their holidays are over, the touch of one button turns everything off and closes the blinds to keep their house safe until their next visit to this idyllic part of the world.
What the client said
“I am particularly impressed with the accumulated knowledge that Christian and his design team possess. They have come up with some stunning window dressing solutions to the problems that the shapes of the windows have created. They have developed a very easy to use control system that maintains the raison d’etre of the house, i.e. the views.”
“Thank you, Clearly Automated.”
