Assuming a commanding position on top of Manchester’s iconic Beetham Tower, there is a penthouse like no other. Officially the highest living space in Britain, it occupies the top two storeys of the 168.87m building - the tallest in the UK outside London and the tallest residential development in Europe. Enviable credentials indeed, and as you would expect from such a landmark development, the penthouse itself has been finished to the highest possible specification and boasts the kind of all-encompassing Crestron control system that takes the concept of home automation to equally impressive heights.
Winner of the coveted title of Best High Rise installation in the 2009 at Crestron's Integration Awards Custom Controls were responsible for the job. An impressive array of technology in the apartment has been skillfully brought together and seamlessly integrated to deliver the ultimate lifestyle of comfort and convenience. Using intuitive Crestron technology, Custom Controls has designed and installed a solution which completely eliminates the need to walk from room to room to adjust the lighting, temperature, security or audio visual components – very useful in a home well over 1,100m2 in size!
Control is provided via the TPS-6L mounted in the headboard and DB12 waterproof keypad’s in the ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bathrooms, allowing the owners to keep in control, even when having a soak. All the main rooms in the penthouse benefit from full Crestron lighting control, enabling access and scene setting from the touchpanels or any of the four Cameo wall mounted keypads located throughout the property. Lighting control in the cinema automatically dims and raises the lights to synchronise with the film and, one press of a button gently illuminates the living room and the garden to show the apartment at its best.
Elsewhere, four compact, wall-mounted TPS-4Ls deliver amazing touchpanel performance in the space of a common light switch whilst two TPS-6Ls offer impressive control capability from highcontrast 5.7” colour touchscreens. The Crestron system integrates seamlessly with a third party building management system, allowing precision control of temperature settings for the underfloor heating and ventilation, in addition to providing environmental control for the indoor olive grove.
The same interface also allows for control of the sauna, steam room and swimming pool. And, as far as security goes, live CCTV images from around the property are relayed to the Crestron touchpanels, to maximise the effectiveness and visibility of the system and to ensure complete peace of mind. And, for an added dimension, cameras can also be accessed and viewed remotely.