Known locally as Yorkshire’s ‘Regency Gem’, St Leonard’s Place – a Grade II-listed crescent in York – has very 21st century home automation and video door entry systems from Comelit fitted in many of its luxurious homes. Around 20 of the dwellings include Simple Home automation from Comelit, featuring VIP door entry with Simple Key Advanced, which features a programmable high-security electronic key; distributed lighting control; audio distribution with Bose speakers in kitchen, living areas and wet rooms; zoned climate control; interface and control of intruder alarms; local and remote control of Simple Home via serial bridge to residents’ tablets and phone devices and connectivity with third-party intruder alarm systems.
The homes at St Leonard’s Place are fitted with Icona Managers, a full duplex, hands-free entry monitor and system manager with a 4.3-inch 16:9 colour touchscreen display. Icona Manager is capable of monitoring and controlling home automation devices and door entry systems. Additional services and devices can also be added to the system. The monitors are situated in locations such as the kitchen, living space and master bedroom and feature sensitive-touch capacitive technology, LED backlighting and swipe functions. They can be semi flush-mounted, wall-mounted or desk-based. With their remote capability, home automation functions can also be controlled directly from a tablet or smartphone anywhere in the world.
The system at St Leonard’s Place – installed by Dynamic Networks Group with M&E contracting by J H Shouksmith – has been designed using a combination of VIP and Simple Home. Each controlled living space consists of two separate dimmable lighting zones – a zone for all ceiling-mounted illumination and one for wall and table-mounted lights.
The installation also features a zoned audio system, featuring concealed speakers, amplifiers and micro-server that can play MP3 stored music and streamed Internet radio stations. It also supports Internet streaming services.
Each Icona Manager includes a temperature and humidity sensor that provides real-time and stored climate information. This data can be displayed on the graphical user interface on the Icona and Smart devices.
The incoming electrical supply for each dwelling has a power-monitoring sensor that records and displays real-time power consumption. This can be displayed on the Icona Manager and analysed using third-party software. “Being a Grade II-listed building, there was limited space and potential for alterations, so the compact nature of our modules appealed to the customer,” says Nick Stevens, Comelit’s Business Development Manager for the Northeast. “Furthermore, the customer liked the design of the Icona monitors and we were able to suggest a more cost-effective solution than originally considered, which included remote access by tablet or smartphone to the Simple Home system.”
The advantage of an IP-based system such as VIP is that it increases the performance of video intercoms, while being versatile and easy to install. It can also provide simultaneous audio and video with no distance limitations, and is able to cater for an unlimited number of users. VIP uses standard Cat5 or Cat6 cabling for reliable performance, with additional control equipment kept to a minimum. It is also easy to integrate with other IP devices and is suitable for integration with existing standard networks.
