While building a three-story, 15,000 square foot home, a Canadian health scientist had aspirations to connect every part of the sprawling residence into a single easy-to-control network, but he had trouble finding an integration firm cut out for the job. After an exhausting search for the right team, the homeowner found Station Earth, a Canada-based integration firm, who designed and executed a complex yet intuitive system around the award-winning ELAN Entertainment & Control System.
“When
we were brought in on the project, the house had
already been pre-wired,” Station Earth Sales
Manager John Stumpf explained. “The previous
integrator was wiring for a different control
platform; however, upon hearing the
homeowner’s stated requirements, we chose ELAN
with Lutron as the consummate choice. Luckily, ELAN
was able to seamlessly integrate into the wiring,
resulting in a successful installation.”
For a smart home of this magnitude, the A/V equipment must be extremely robust. Station Earth’s system consists of 132 lighting and fan loads, 36 motorized roller shades, 11 security cameras, an alarm system with two partitions and 85 zones, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring, gate control, five garage door controls, 13 zones of video, 17 zones of distributed audio and a full anamorphic theater room, all integrated through ELAN.
The ELAN system travels throughout every inch of the three-story home, including the indoor pool and outside to the tennis court. Inside, Station Earth designed a dedicated gaming room for the family, complete with three gaming stations, a wall-mounted 90-inch LED TV and a pool table. “What might seem like overkill in some rooms fits perfectly into this space,” Stumpf said. “The outcome in the Great Room is simply breathtaking.”
To
keep the family entertained throughout the rest of
the home, audio and video components were added to
nearly every room. Each ELAN touch panel offers
Sirius Radio, Music Server, Airplay, online
streaming services and local FM radio, while 1080p
video can be summoned to any of the home’s 13
televisions or the home theater with the push of a
button. “Ease of use and intuitiveness were
the top requests and ones that we hit the mark in
this project,” Stumpf stated. “Every
family member and relative that uses the ELAN-based
system comments on how simple it is to
control.”
To operate the system, Station Earth strategically mounted ELAN touch panels, Apple iTouch devices and Lutron keypads into the walls. If the homeowner is away from his home or on a different part of the property, he can operate the system through smart phones and web-based tablets. Stumpf added, “While traveling, the clients can verify the comings and goings of the housekeepers, landscapers, snow removal, pool servicing technicians and dog walkers, simply by checking the alarm history and the camera footage. They can see all activity in and around the property through the ELAN App on their smart device.”