A Guide to Luxury Smart Home Construction

Here’s a hot take:

If your smart home contractor doesn’t treat your property like it’s one-of-a-kind, ditch them.

Any luxury home automation professional worth their salt knows that no two houses are the same, no two homeowners are the same, and the priorities for one person can be completely different from another. With that in mind, we’ve built this guide to designing a luxury smart home with a focus on choice and options.

Read on to gain a better understanding of the important design principles behind smart home construction, as well as the different ways your systems can be configured. By the end, whether you’re building a new smart home from the ground up, or constructing a bespoke system in an existing space, you’ll know just what it takes to bring your dream home to life.

What (Almost) Every Smart Home Has in Common

To begin, let’s go over a couple of basic design elements that nearly every smart home will have in common. We know, it’s a bit of a backtrack after we started off emphasizing how every home is different, but trust us. These tips are about the little things that make luxury home automation possible in the first place.

First, prewiring. The amount of care and planning you put into your electrical and data cabling is just as important as the care you put into your foundation when you’re designing a smart house. Every floor, every room, every wall should be considered, so when the time comes to install your desired technology like surveillance cameras, speakers, automatic blinds, etc., you won’t be stuck searching for ad hoc solutions. Of course, knowing what needs to be wired where takes some serious expertise. So, we recommend bringing on your home automation expert, such as Architechne, early in the planning phase.

Second, don’t forget about your home automation hub. The device itself isn’t large, and its placement can easily become an afterthought, but we encourage you to be proactive in your plans for it. The more central its location within your home, the more smoothly the entire system will run. After all, the hub is the ‘brain’ that connects and manages every bit of technology together and makes your home a single, cohesive piece of hardware. So give its placement the attention it deserves during your plans.

Choosing Your Systems & Technologies

Now, with those commonalities out of the way, it’s time to get into the exciting part. Explore all the different systems and options you can choose to include for your smart home construction.

While some homeowners opt for the full sweep, many instead go for a more edited selection that suits their budget and particular lifestyle. So, as we go through the many systems and functions a smart home can have, keep your priorities in mind. It will help you focus on what you’re most keen for, and develop a plan that’s optimally suited to you.

Custom & Smart Lighting

If you want to have all or part of your home fitted with smart lighting, there are several key factors to consider:

• Placement

• Aesthetics

• Functionality

There are several design philosophies you can explore when deciding on lighting placement in your home – for example, we here at Architechne ascribe to the ‘layers of light’ approach. However you choose to place your lights, it’s important to plan your general lighting placement in advance to allow for sufficient prewiring.

As for your lighting’s aesthetic impact, different types of lighting require different considerations. For example, for a chandelier hanging in the middle of a room, it’s important to consider both how it illuminates and how it complements the space it is illuminating. On the other hand, for a linear fixture installed beneath the kitchen cabinets, the only consideration is how it illuminates the counters below.

Finally, lighting functionality is where the specific advantages of automation come into play. Your choice of bulbs and fixtures will impact the types of functionalities your lighting can offer. While some smart lighting solutions may be limited to a simple on or off selection, others allow for near-limitless gradations of color and brightness.

Automated Blinds & Shades

Another way to affect the light in your smart home is through automated blinds and shades. This technology comes in a wide variety of designs including rollers, louvers, and panels. You can also choose between battery-powered or hardwired models.

When opting for automated blinds, you’ll once again need to keep both aesthetics and functionality in mind. The designs you choose should suit your space aesthetically, while also providing the type of light control you’re looking for.

Another consideration is accessibility. For hardwired systems, this isn’t as critical, since you won’t need to access their mechanisms regularly. On the other hand, if you opt for battery-powered systems, you’ll want to ensure your windows are designed so that you can easily reach the batteries whenever they need recharging.

Surveillance, Locks & Doors

There is a wide variety of security technology compatible with smart home automation. The most popular devices include:

• Surveillance and security cameras

• Noise and motion detectors

• Smart locks

The type and quantity of devices you choose for your home should be based on your particular security concerns as well as the size and design of your space.

For example, a home you plan to rent out may want to prioritize more internal cameras and noise detectors. However, a family home may be better suited with just cameras focused on the interior and exterior of the main access points.

Regardless, always consider your desired placement for security equipment when you’re planning your home’s construction. For surveillance cameras and motion detectors, you’ll want to keep your desired sightlines in mind to ensure there are no structural impediments. And if any of your devices will be hardwired, you’ll need to plan your prewiring accordingly. Check out our interview with Michael Cabalero of IC Realtime for an in-depth discussion on home security design.

Home Theaters & Cinemas

For many luxury smart homeowners, a home theater is part and parcel of the smart home dream. If you find yourself in this category, then planning out a separate, dedicated space is often the best way to go.

Such a space should be constructed away from the central activities of the home and designed with excellent noise insulation. Keep in mind the size of TV you want to use, or if you’d prefer a projector, and plan the viewing wall’s color, angle, and dimensions accordingly.

Of course, the classic indoor home theater isn’t the only option for creating a private cinema experience. Outdoor theaters are becoming increasingly popular thanks to improvements in weather-proof TVs and speakers. So, if you want a cinematic space in your luxury smart home but are dreaming of something a little less conventional, don’t hesitate to ask your contractor. Odds are good that a custom smart home system can be created to bring your crazy dreams to life.

For more tips for creating a home theater, check out our Artisans Series episode with Andrew Turner from Sony.

Audio, Music & Speakers

Most custom smart homes do best when a whole-home approach is used for the audio. While speakers may not be needed in every single room, with a whole-home approach, you can ensure that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can keep on enjoying your music.

Once you have a floor plan, take some time to consider how you will be listening in each space. In the laundry room, for example, your listening could be more passive while you work. Thus, going for more economical speakers in this room can help save some budget for the main spaces. Spaces like your home theater or music room, where the best of the best in audio quality will be fully appreciated.

Finally, if hardwired in-ceiling, in-wall, or hidden speakers are your preference, then you’ll need to factor in the size, location, and appearance of your speakers when designing each room. You’ll need sufficient prewiring to support each device, and the likely position of the listener should be factored in when deciding on their placement.

Bringing it all Together – Luxury Home Automation Controls

Of course, all the systems listed above could just be considered options for a conventional luxury home – it takes something more to make them part of a luxury home automation system. That’s where your controller selection comes into play.

Off-the-shelf DIY home automation solutions tend to feel thrown together, clunky, and disjointed. To get a home management experience that’s just as high-end as the technology it manages, you’re better off choosing a top-of-the-line automation controller. The two main options today are Savant and Control4, and while there are differences between the two, they both make for an excellent user experience.

These controllers allow you (or your home automation integrator working your behalf) to create customized settings based on factors like time of day, weather conditions, activity in the home, etc. These programmed settings are what allow the home to respond to you automatically, turning so many different pieces of technology into a natural, intuitive extension of your home life.

Work with the Custom Smart Home Experts

If you’re dreaming big about your own luxury smart home, why not work with the experts to make those dreams happen? At Architechne, we have the expertise, the technology, and the partnerships you need to build a house that’s truly one-of-a-kind. Somewhere perfectly suited to your work, hobbies, and preferences. All you’ve got to do is contact us today to get started.