Surrounded by four acres of manicured formal gardens and woodlands, the Treetops mansion in Troon is considered to be one of Scotland’s finest homes — a reputation aided in no small part by its current owner, who commissioned a renovation of the three-level, hundred-year-old residence shortly after purchasing it.
The project included the construction of a new leisure wing consisting of a 40-foot heated indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room, and a gym and shower room. In addition, the owner wanted to bring the mansion up to speed with the latest technology, including distributing audio and video to its every corner — from the aforementioned leisure wing to the six bedrooms with on-suite bathrooms, drawing room, library, kitchen and dining area, main living room, hallways, and patio garden. And to easily enjoy the home’s multitude of entertainment options, simple and reliable control was needed in each of these areas. To provide the technological makeover, the owner called on integrator, Lairds AV.
For video distribution at Treetops, Lairds utilised a Wyrestorm NetworkHD AV over IP system to deliver content to 14 4K displays, with sources including four Sky Q boxes, a 4K media server, a Blu-ray player, two Yamaha AV receivers, and a digital signage player that displays family photographs and custom artwork.
RTI’s AD-16x audio matrix switch and AD-8x audio distribution system — in conjunction with three RTI CP-1650 16-channel Cool Power amplifiers and a Sonance DSP 2-150 power amplifier — deliver audio to 19 zones outfitted with a mixture of Sonance, M&K Sounds, and Amina Edge speakers and subwoofers. To meet the owner’s expectations for simple, reliable control, Lairds relied on solutions from RTI.
“There is a tier structure for control systems when it comes to performance and ease of use, and RTI is at the top in comparison to the more expensive solutions on the market,” says Mark Laird, director of Lairds AV. “We’ve been utilising the company’s products for some time in both our residential and commercial projects, and they’ve always provided a robust and reliable platform that can be completely customized to offer the most intuitive control experience possible. Our client required that level of performance, so relying on RTI in this installation was an easy call.”
The control system at Treetops is powered by a combination of RTI’s XP-6s and XP-8v control processors, relying on two-way IP drivers for seamless integration with electronic systems, including RTI’s AD-16x and AD-8x.
The homeowner and guests interact with the control system via four KX2 2.8-in in-wall touchpanels and two KX7 7in touchpanels. To enjoy a movie or watch TV, they need only tap on the desired display(s) and video source; switching video sources at any point is as simple as tapping an icon. The touchpanels also provide access to all of the home’s music sources, with playback control for individual or multiple zones. The same control experience is available on iOS devices running the RTiPanel app, such as the customised waterproof iPads located in the leisure wing.
Lairds also provides the homeowner with remote maintenance of their system using RTI’s cloud-based RTiQ remote management solution. With RTiQ, the company can monitor the status of all the home’s devices from anywhere in the world via a dashboard, and receive email and text notifications that alert them if a failure occurs. They can then remotely trigger an action to restore the failed system or component.
“With so many displays and audio zones, Treetops could have easily turned into a mess of remotes and confusion without a powerful control system,” adds Laird. “With RTI, our client has been thrilled with how simple everything is to operate, the rock-solid reliability, and the peace of mind that comes with remote management. And now they’re ready to pass this one-of-a-kind AV experience on to the next owner. The property is up for sale, and our client is sure to receive a high return on the investment they’ve made in the mansion’s technology.”
