A technology transformation of a 16-room, 4,500-square-metre Victorian mansion in Melbourne, Australia, by integration firm Wired By MJD has been honoured with the 2026 CEDIA Smart Home Award, Asia Pacific region, for Best Single-Room Solution.
The foundation of the award-winning House of Continuum project is a robust, future-ready Kordz cabling infrastructure, carefully designed and installed to overcome the challenges of a large-scale retrofit while enabling the home’s extensive collection of AV, networking, lighting, automation and other technologies to perform at their full potential.
Six years after completing the original smart home installation in the luxury period home, Michael Daly and his team at Wired By MJD were invited back to one of their most significant residential projects to support an extensive architectural and technology overhaul.
Bringing tech to life
At the centre of the project is a dramatic redesign of the home’s 23-by-13-metre Great Room. More than a cosmetic refresh, the renovation incorporated intricate wall treatments, bespoke joinery and architectural details, alongside an extensive 30-circuit architectural lighting system, distributed audio for background and surround-sound listening, a custom soundbar for an existing 85-inch display, intuitive lighting and climate controls and seamless Wi-Fi connectivity.
Kordz, a leader in high-performance cabling solutions, played an integral role in helping Wired By MJD modernise the technology backbone of the Great Room and surrounding residence. By standardising on Kordz connectivity, the integration team was able to navigate the considerable challenges of retrofitting a large historic property while creating a reliable, future-ready infrastructure designed to enable every connected system to perform at its full potential.
Ensuring reliability
Because the home’s original installation predated the widespread adoption of Cat6A, the project provided an ideal opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure. Wired By MJD deployed Kordz Cat6A network cabling throughout the residence and Great Room, complemented by Kordz HDMI connectivity for long-distance AV distribution, Kordz speaker cable for premium audio performance and KNX control cabling for lighting and automation. Additional cabling pathways were incorporated to accommodate future expansion.
“This project was as much about future-readiness as it was about renovation,” explained Michael. “Wherever we could run new cabling, we did. We also installed additional prewire runs to support whatever technologies the homeowners may want to add down the road.”
The new Kordz backbone supports an extensive collection of premium technologies, including KNX and DALI lighting control managing approximately 30 lighting circuits, James by Sonance small aperture speakers, PowerPipe subwoofers for distributed audio and immersive surround sound, a custom MAG Theatron Uni-Bar soundbar engineered for the existing 85-inch display, and a motorised TV mount that optimises viewing angles throughout the expansive room.
An ELAN by Nice control system brought the technology together, unifying lighting, blinds, audio-visual systems, climate, security, electronic locks and CCTV through a single intuitive platform. Four separate HVAC systems were also integrated to provide seamless comfort, convenience and energy efficiency throughout the residence.
Pulling wire with ease
Installing the new infrastructure presented challenges far beyond those of a typical residential project. Wired By MJD needed to work around existing architecture, finished surfaces, limited access points as well as the architect and interior designer’s plans. The multiple roof spaces that separated rooms required technicians to position themselves in different areas of the residence to guide individual cables from one space to another.
Distance added another layer of complexity. With the central equipment rack located at one end of the home, some cable runs to technology endpoints in the Great Room extended as far as 80 metres. Network connectivity, AV distribution and KNX lighting control all needed to maintain consistent performance over these distances without introducing faults or signal integrity issues.
Having relied on Kordz products for numerous previous projects, Michael selected Kordz ONE Cat6A network cabling, matching keystones and patch cords for the home’s data systems, complemented by Kordz HDMI, KNX and speaker cabling. “I particularly like the jacket on the Kordz cabling,” said Michael. “It’s smooth, robust and it glides through runs without getting caught.”
The reduced friction and installer-friendly handling characteristics of Kordz’ professional-grade cabling helped Wired By MJD navigate walls, ceilings and roof spaces more efficiently, simplifying an otherwise demanding retrofit. Black Kordz SlimCat Cat6A Patch Cords were incorporated into the equipment rack to maintain a clean, organised appearance appropriate for the premium installation.
Connecting every system
Beyond ease of installation, consistency and reliability were critical considerations throughout the project. Supported by the professionally installed Kordz infrastructure, the home’s networking, AV, lighting control and automation systems perform reliably across long cable distances and throughout the expansive property. The Cat6A backbone also provides additional bandwidth and headroom to support future technologies while optimising the performance of today’s premium devices.
“We had next to no faults on the system,” stated Michael. “For a project involving long cable runs, complex routing pathways and a diverse collection of integrated technologies, this level of reliability significantly reduced commissioning time and reinforced our confidence in the overall system design.”