WHEN MOST OF US THINK of escaping to a mountain retreat, it’s to a small “rustic” cabin where a 24-inch TV and central heating are the only technological comforts. Not these homeowners. They firmly believed that technology was essential to manage and fully enjoy their sprawling 15,000-square-foot Colorado mountain vacation home. No expense was spared—whether it was for the advanced home automation system, impressive whole-house audio/video integration, all-encompassing weather and environmental technology, or entertainment features like the wine cellar and bowling alley.
For people who live in the mountains, weather considerations are always top of mind, and the weather-related tech considerations made for this home are nothing short of extraordinary. Sidewalks, the driveway, and anything else concrete are heated by a geothermal snow-melt system. A fully functional hazard detection system with sensors for burglary, fire, smoke, heat, water, cold temperature, and natural gas, warn residents should something go amiss. The homeowners can also control 16 motorized exterior windows and the home’s fireplaces, receive information on the local weather, monitor the temperature and humidity of the wine cellar, and fully control the home’s main geothermal hydronic temperature system from the overarching Crestron automation system.
Getting the home to align with Colorado’s conservation initiatives was also a top priority. “Local building codes required that all the lighting fixtures be LED and that the shading system maximize solar efficiencies,” says Ben Larkin, technical services manager of home systems integration company ListenUp, of Denver. He and his team met these demands with Lutron HomeWorksQS lighting and Sivoia QS shading systems that are completely integrated, with all of the windows and light fixtures across the entire home following preprogrammed schedules to maximize energy efficiency.
When the homeowners are staying at their primary residence, the surveillance system acts as the eyes and ears of their vacation property. They insisted on full HD and thermal infrared coverage of the home’s exterior and even in some areas inside the home. FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) cameras on the rear and sides of the home give the owners a full thermal view of the home no matter if the weather is clear or a blizzard rages on. Fifteen high-definition cameras mounted around the perimeter of the home, and in key indoor areas, add to surveillance coverage.
Supporting reliable communication with all of these security features—as well with many of the home’s other electronic components—requires an extremely robust network. ListenUp designed a sophisticated enterprise-grade Cisco Systems data backbone, including 10 wireless access points for seamless Wi-Fi connectivity from any area of the home. “Every inch of usable space in the home has reliable signal strength and superb signal-to-noise ratios, ensuring solid performance for mobile devices and laptops,” says Larkin.
While these systems all lend greater efficiency, security, convenience, and notification of what’s happening at the home, the entertainment systems are what bring the home to life. A house-wide audio/video system with 12 zones of high-definition video, all of which are available in sparkling 4K Ultra HD resolution, keep the family and guests entertained for hours. Bowers & Wilkins high-performance speakers fill all the rooms with music—that’s 22 audio zones across the home’s three levels. Feeding these entertainment zones is a Kaleidescape digital movie server, Autonomic MMS5A audio server, and a Crestron Sonnex multi-room audio system. For serious music listening, the homeowners can visit the high-end custom-designed two-channel listening and media room, which includes the latest in digital sound processing from DataSat Digital, Lab GruppenLake, and Dolby Labs. To really dial in the audio from the Focal loudspeakers and subwoofers, ListenUp brought in acoustics firm Keith Yates Design Group, of Auburn, Calif., to professionally tune and acoustically design the space, along with other areas of the home.
Strike! Bowling Alley Noise Control
Bowling alleys are noisy. While this might not be an issue in a commercial alley, for this residence, preventing the sound from spilling into the kitchen above was crucial. The unique acoustically isolated floating ceiling on the lower level keeps the sound of the crashing pins muted to guests in other parts of the home. “Acoustical treatment and sound mitigation were major components of this project and encompassed the entire lower level of the home,” says Ben Larkin, technical services manager of home systems integration company ListenUp, of Denver. To fully isolate noise from the bowling alley, a suspended acoustical ceiling was installed over the contiguous 4,500-square-foot ceiling. The floating lid was constructed of a cold-rolled steel frame that is mechanically isolated by an array of more than 500 acoustic springs. Even the in-ceiling speakers had to be carefully engineered to precisely fit the acoustic ceiling. “This part of the project was a massive undertaking and required months of detailed coordination between all of the contractors,” says Larkin.
While ListenUp executed this project with aplomb, a home this massive and tech-heavy is never without its challenges. Arguably the biggest one for ListenUp was engineering complex systems on expedited schedules. “The project had to be completed in 24 months, from building permits to furniture delivery,” says Larkin. “With so many cool features, including the bowling alley and geothermal systems, there were also more subcontractors than usual. We had to interface with the client, subcontractors, and engineering firms constantly to keep the project on time and within budget.”
In the end, ListenUp was able to make all the complex systems easy to use via a streamlined user interface on Crestron touchpanels, iPads, and computers, which control all 15 major home subsystems. When the owners plan on visiting this vacation home, they simply log-in remotely via the Crestron app on their iPad and, with the touch of a finger, set the home so that when they arrive, the snow has melted off the driveway and sidewalks, the home is heated to the perfect temperature, a fire is softly glowing in the fireplace, the shades are drawn to preset levels, and their favorite music is playing. The only thing missing, then, is a cup of piping hot chocolate.
Check out all the Electronic House 2015 HOME OF THE YEAR award winners in the June issue, featured in the Electronic House app on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
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PHOTOGRAPHY: Darren Edwards SYSTEMS DESIGN & INSTALLATION: ListenUp, Denver, Colo. BUILDER: Double Diamond Property & Construction Services, Frisco, Colo. ACOUSTICS: Keith Yates Design Group, Auburn, Calif.
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