Thanks to the integration of weather-hardy Snap One products by Acadian Home Theater & Automation, entertainment extends to the exterior of this custom smart home.
The design and integration team at Acadian Home Theater & Automation had relied on Snap One products to automate the insides of dozens of high-end homes prior to this project.
Increasingly, requests for technology had spread to outdoor areas—and not just for a simple set of speakers for the back deck.
“Our outdoor projects have now grown from a basic level of audio into higher-end audio and video, motorised screens, Wi-Fi access, surveillance cameras … the works,” says Bryan Naquin, owner of Acadian Home Theater & Automation.
A recent Snap One project involved the integration of a plethora of products over 30,000 square feet of outdoor area. Acadian Home Theater & Automation outfitted the entire landscape, as well as the property’s party pavilion, boat house and guest house with all the smart home bells and whistles.
The homeowner requested that the property should be able to play music in any area (no dead zones) and make the outdoor areas as easy to manage, use and enjoy as the systems inside their home.
Over the course of a 10-week “discovery process,” Bryan and his team were able to pinpoint exactly what they needed to deliver exactly what the homeowner wanted using Snap One.
Acadian aimed for full, even coverage for this expansive outdoor property, ensuring the owners would be able to hear music at a consistent volume level without a single dead zone.
Bryan had experienced this effect at Disney World years ago, noting the generous number of speakers throughout the park every 60 or 70 feet, and came to the conclusion that if it worked for Disney, it could work for his residential clients – especially those with high expectations for their exterior audio.
The owners of the Antebellum-style mansion and outdoor compound certainly qualified. Dozens of Episode landscape speakers blanket the landscape, with surface- and ceiling-mounted models accoutering balconies and covered patios.
“There are millions of different speaker options, so choosing the right manufacturer that stands behind their products is so important, especially when dealing with the vagaries of an outdoor environment,” Bryan notes. “Snap One’s level of service and support is bar-none, making them the best choice for this project.”
Snap One handled other key elements of the 30-month-long project, including custom Control4 processors to automate a wide assortment of exterior and fountain lights, SunBrite weather-hardy TVs that raise and lower on motorised lifts from Nexus21, Araknis outdoor Wi-Fi access points, roughly 50 Luma surveillance cameras and Control4 processors.
Motorised screens provide protection from the sun and insects, forming an enclosed area at the party pavilion for entertaining. Even the entrance to the property is supervised via the Control4 system – the owners access the Control4 app on their mobile devices to cue music, move TVs into place, view real-time footage on surveillance cameras, open the gate and turn on and off lighting. Meanwhile the outdoor Wi-Fi network ensures commands reach their intended destinations without issue.
Soon, the owners may be using their voices to instruct the technology inside and outside their estate home.
“That’s another reason why we like Control4 and Snap One so much,” Bryan remarks. “They are always evolving and upgrading their products, which keeps our clients’ systems fresh and relevant.”
Still, Bryan and his team carefully analyse the benefits of every new piece of technology before introducing them as options to clients.
“We only add features if they add real value and enrichment to the customer’s lifestyle,” Bryan concludes.