AliceLuxury housing communities are making a concerted effort to up their amenity game, and Little Rock, Arkansas, is no exception.
Professional management company, Richardson Properties crafted the ultra-luxury Pointe Brodie Creek housing complex on 40-acres and connected more than 25 services through one ELAN Entertainment and Control System.
“We travelled to several Class-A multifamily communities in Texas to get ideas for this luxury property,” says Steve Tracy, vice president of real estate at Richardson Properties. “The goal was to craft a community with amazing amenities that weren’t available at other properties in the area.”
The community boasts an array of services and facilities including a 78-seat theatre, virtual fitness room, poker lounge and climate controlled wine lockers, 24/7 Precor fitness centre, late night concierge, Las Vegas-style pool and much more.
After developing the overall design, Richardson Properties sought expert advice from Jonesboro-based design and integration firm, Sound Concepts.
“Steve and Keith Richardson (CEO/owner) came to our design centre to see the system fully functional,” explains Sound Concepts owner Ryan Heringer. “We showed Keith and Steve a variety of automation systems in our showroom and they ultimately selected ELAN for the job.”
Steve adds that that he “needed a system that was user-friendly and easy to operate – and the ELAN system has definitely exceeded our expectations.”
The Pointe Brodie Creek has become its own community within Little Rock. Residents can enjoy Thirsty Thursdays, Wine Club meetings and other special events in the main Club House weekly.
However, with most amenities available to residents until 10PM, Richardson Properties needed a way close down the facilities after hours.
“Most of the systems are on a schedule,” Steve explains. “Our irrigation system, pool pumps, music, TVs, fountains and fireplaces are all scheduled to turn on and off at certain hours with ELAN.”
With more than 500 multi-family units situated around the Club House, residents can enjoy a variety of amenities right outside of their door.
Among them is a 78-seat movie theatre situated on the entire third floor of the main building. Built with state-of-the-art acoustics, the room comes equipped with a Draper 16:9 screen, Epson projector recessed in the back wall and an ELAN System Controller to keep everything running smoothly.
What’s more, the theatre is completely operated by the ELAN g! App from an iPad built into the wall.
Throughout the rest of the Club House, The Point Brodie Creek residents are entertained by more than 10 Samsung 3D Smart LED TVs ranging from 4in to 5in, although an 80in Sharp 3D Smart LED TV is also available in the communal conference room.
For audio, an ELAN S1616A Mulit-Room Audio Controller is used to operate more than 30 zones throughout the facility.
The three-story building can receive audio inputs from up to 16 sources, creating full-bodied sound through 78 in-ceiling speakers.
The MRA system allows The Pointe Brodie Creek’s Community Manager, Shelley Ellis, to create the perfect atmosphere in each room, so residence using the library won’t be subjected to the same music as those attending ‘Thirsty Thursday’ down the hall.
Furthermore, custom Lutron LED Lighting systems were installed throughout the Club House, making the ambiance of each room unique to its purpose.
Through the ELAN g! App, Shelley can not only turn the lights on and off, but also change the colours of the lights to set the exact mood desired for a sports game or other special event.
“In terms of square-footage, this is one of the largest jobs we’ve completed to date,” Ryan reflects. “As far as the scope of the work and the time frame, we can handled it, but the scale and size of this development and interconnection all the building with fiber due to the length of the building was massive. To be able to control everything with a handle held device is mind blowing!”
“The ELAN system is basically a time saving device,” Shelley explains. “Running around the property to turn everything on and off manually would take hours. With ELAN, I am able to operate and monitor everything straight from my phone which makes my job a lot easier.”
And the A/V doesn’t stop with the Club House. “We installed just as much audio and video equipment outside than we did inside,” Ryan adds. “The green space is filled with speakers and 40 Wirepath surveillance cameras to keep residents not only entertained, but also make them feel safe.”
Twenty landscape speakers line the entire outdoor area, so residents can enjoy music at the Pet Park, Playground, Volleyball Court, Putting Green, Garden, or while barbecuing with friends by the Las Vegas-style pool.
Surrounding the pool, residents can receive a resort-like experience with cabanas, fire pits and an additional 30 outdoor speakers hidden in the greenery.
Meanwhile, inside of the pool house, residents will find a Samsung 80in Smart 3D LED TV, while the outside bar comes equipped with a 55in 3D LED TV, while the patio hosts a 65in Smart LED TV.
Best of all, the entire outdoor A/V system is connected to an ELAN HC4 systems manager, allowing The Pointe Brodie Creek’s operations team to keep everything running smoothly without second thought.
This project also included installing over 100 HD IP cameras, alarm integration into the main clubhouse, surveillance cameras throughout the entire property, door locks for all exterior doors and apartments in the main clubhouse.
In fact, the 13 automated door locks can be managed from the ELAN App by simply removing users from the locks in the apartments without actually having to go to the lock itself.
They can also schedule automated door locks when the clubhouse is closed, which is huge time saver.
A first for Sound Concepts was the ability to control the tanning bed sessions from the ELAN iOS App.
“Another cool feature was the amount of zones and the ability to open and close the building on a schedule,” says Ryan. “Audio and video can be turned on through a user preset schedule, making this a huge time saver.
“Another great feature is the ability to control all the lights in the building and its fireplaces too,” he enthuses. “These are all on a user defined schedule that can be easily changed. We also added colour-changing LEDs that can be controlled using the ELAN g App! Not to mention the App being used to control 48 zones of irrigation along with scheduling.
“We also controlled the pool system, LED lights, TVs, the pool and one of the largest landscape audio systems we have ever installed (including over 80 episode satellite speakers) – you name it!”
“We recently broke ground on a similar facility right across the street,” Steve concludes. “We’re working through the details now, but with the success of The Pointe Brodie Creek, we know it will be another fully automated community.”
“I would have to say the landscape audio system was my personal favourite part,” says Ryan. “It was our largest one to date. That, or the giant theatre – which is the largest we have done.”