HOUSE ROTHMAN

House Rothman is not just another luxurious four bedroom house in an exclusive gated community. Measuring almost 600 square metres, the home contains extensive automation features controlling almost every aspect of comfortable living from entertainment to lighting, heating, and security.

Entertainment

With simplicity at the core of the control systems, even the Rothman's small children are able to select their own music or movies without having to physically load a CD or DVD, or search for a mislaid remote. They make their selection by simply pressing the relevant button on a touchpanel. The buttons on the touchpanels in their playroom and bedrooms are also engraved with icons so that they may easily identify the various functions of the buttons. 

Audio and video distribution is routed to 16 zones in the house, with display screens in the playroom, home cinema, master bedroom, children's bedrooms, guest bedroom, bar and patio, with entertainment is just the push of a button away - whether you're watching a movie in bed, following a match with your mates in the bar or keeping track of the news while you're on the treadmill.  And if it's party time on the patio, selecting ‘party mode' on the remote will instantly turn up the volume. It can even be done using the waterproof remote, so you don't need to get out of the Jacuzzi to pump up the jam.

Lighting

Motion sensors are linked to lighting throughout the home to automatically turn lights on when someone enters a room and turn them off when no motion is detected for a pre-set time.  Dimming of lights is also incorporated into the system; for example, when using a bathroom in the middle of the night, the lights will come on at a low level to give only sufficient illumination to find your way, and dim back down to zero when no motion has been detected for a certain time.

Although the lighting scenes in different areas are pre-set, they can be adjusted as and when required.

Under-floor heating

Although the underfloor heating temperature is controlled automatically by the thermostats, it can be turned on or off from any of the control system keypads or touchpanels.

Shower control

The master suite shower is controlled through Crestron relays which trigger Solenoid valves connected to the water supply. The shower can be turned on from the keypad in the master bedroom so that the temperature is just right when you step into it. Better yet, there's no need to sing in the shower yourself, as a waterproof remote-on-a-rope allows you to tune into a favourite song and turn up the volume without having to reach for a towel first.

Water features

The pumps for a number of water features are also automatically controlled, but can be turned off for maintenance purposes when necessary.

Security system

A panic button is conveniently located on each of the room's keypads in case of emergency.

Central Control System

The central control system consists of a professional automation 2 series dual bus control processor to ensure high performance of the entire home automation system. The control system touchpanels and the intelligent button panels are custom programmed to interface with the central control processor, which will in turn control all the routing, video & audio, lighting, and source equipment. This allows for the automatic one touch routing of the correct signals. The control system is future ready, and can be expanded at any time by simply adding modular components.

The Control system comprises the following:

• 3 x wall mountable active matrix LCD touchpanels, namely a TPMC-8L Isys 10.4" Active matrix touchpanel, and two TPS-2000L Isys 5" touchpanels.
• 51 x wall mountable intelligent button panels with built in temperature sensors, wave file playback, and back-lit for aesthetically pleasing appearance.
• 1 x handheld one-way RF 3.8" touchpanel.
• 2 x handheld waterproof remotes. Centralised control over lighting, under-floor heating, water features, background music, HQ audio & video up to high definition 1080p video level.

Global audio

Control over multi-room amplifiers and multiple music sources consisting of Central 5-disc CD player, DMX satellite music, FM radio, i-pod, and Apple TV have been allowed for. Fully independent audiophile sound quality music zones are available at the touch of a button. 

Global audio summary:

• Centralized control of audio sources.
• 16 dedicated audio zones.

Global Video

An array of plasma and LCD screens ranging from 30" to 65" located throughout the home are all controlled by the Crestron system. Control over multiple video sources namely Central DVD, DSTV PVR satellite, local television channels and HD Apple TV have been allowed for. All video sources (and their respective audio) are selectable from each room's local control panel, touchpanel, or wireless touchpanel. Waterproof remotes are available for the master suite shower and Jacuzzi.

Global video summary:

• Centralized control of video sources and displays.
• 8 dedicated video zones.
• High quality video distribution throughout the house with up to HD 1080p level.

Lighting

Crestron's CAEN lighting system manages light dimming in the home, while DIN rail mountable relays are used to take care of all the switching circuits.

Lighting scenes can be customized from the master TPMC-8L Isys 10.4" touchpanel. 

‘Home' and ‘Away' modes are part of the system. A vacation scheduler is used to learn the lighting modes and levels while the home is occupied, and when the home is in ‘Away' mode, the Crestron system will run the home as if the home is occupied.

Lighting system summary:

• 19 Dimmed zones.
• 30 Switched zones.
• Unlimited preset capability.
• Intelligent scene setting.
• Motion sensors to automatically switch lights on, or activate lighting scene settings.

Design and Installation

The design and installation of the systems in House Rothman was undertaken by HFX Systems, working hand in hand with Electrosonic SA, who was responsible for all the programming and touchpanel visuals.  

For almost two decades HFX Systems has been installing a range of AV, home theatre and multi-room systems in a variety of environments from private homes to boardrooms, media rooms and theatres throughout Southern Africa. Always on track with the latest technology and products from around the world, HFX provides professional advice and expert installation through their Cedia accredited installers.

"The success of this type of project lies in a clearly communicated brief and careful planning and design. Although we spent almost 200 hours (excluding programming time) on House Rothman, less than 50 hours was invested in the actual installation, calibration and testing," said Peter Von Graszouw.  "One has to really plan the work before you can work the plan successfully."

July 2008