Jordan O'BrienVisual Systems Sales Ltd recently completed an installation which saw a London Duplex in Regents Park be brought bang up to date, after over 40 years of being untouched.
The Duplex had been owned by one family for over 40 years until the current owner bought the property and decided to undergo a complete renovation.
A completely redesigned layout and renovation enabled the new owners to provide a small entrance lobby on the ground floor, which leads into a large living/entertainment room.
This leads on to a central lobby which comes equipped with stairs leading to the first floor, as well as a cloakroom, utility room with a washer/dryer and central vacuum system, and an entrance to the large kitchen and dining rooms.
Visual Systems was approached at an early stage by the new owners and asked to design the AV systems in conjunction with the overall design concept.
This was done to ensure that the AV systems could be installed quickly and smoothly when the time came.
Rather than creating a whole new system, the owners had requested that Visual Systems re-use some of their existing equipment, which consists of two Systemline S4.3 four zone music systems, with S4.3 controllers and a Pioneer black line plasma display.
The brief was to utilise this equipment but to also enhance it with a new control system, amplifier, switcher, media server and speakers.
Visual Systems was also enlisted to choose a video door entry system for its clients; which the company decided to opt for BPT.
The BPT video door entry system can be controlled using a Crestron control system.
Three internal video monitors are positioned in the central lobby area, kitchen and first floor landing.
In the main living/entertainment room Visual Systems recessed the existing 60in Pioneer plasma TV into the wall, coupled with an RBH in-wall speaker system.
The system consists of two subs, a left, right and centre speaker, with two pairs of RBH ceiling speakers for rear and side surround effect.
Rather than utilising a separate speaker setup for music playback, Visual Systems ensured that the house owner could benefit from the RBH speakers no matter what was pushed through.
Elsewhere in the main living room is an Onkyo 7.1 surround sound processor, which has a variety of inputs, including a Sony Blu-Ray player, QNap service, Nintendo Wii games console and a Sky HD receiver.
All of this can be controlled via a wireless Crestron control system, consisting of a TST 5.7in touch panel with a table top base.
Music is separately controlled using a Systemline KPM7 wall keypad for source selection and volume control.
Elsewhere in the Regents Park Duplex is a kitchen/diner which boasts two RBH ceiling speakers in the dining room section and two RBH ceiling speakers in the kitchen zone, controlled from a Systemline KPM7 wall keypad.
A Samsung Smart 32in TV on a cantilever wall mount was also installed in the dining area, alongside a 15in flip-down cabinet TV in the kitchen area.
Both TVs enjoy access to the Internet for catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix, as well as digital Freeview TV. There’s also access to a modulated channel for Sky/Blu-Ray.
The first floor consists of a master bedroom with an en-suite, guest bathroom, study and two further bedrooms, one which also boasts an en-suite.
For the first floor rooms Visual Systems opted for wall-mounted speakers for music, as the ceiling void is extremely compact, at just 40mm.
The clients are style-conscious, which is why Visual Systems believed that the Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micro in white would suit the first floor rooms the best.
The master bedroom gained a 40in Samsung TV, which is mounted to the wall, as well as a Sky multi-room link to a main centralised receiver.
This link meant that the homeowner could use the Sky remote in the bedroom whenever required.
As standard on many modern TVs, Internet access was also included on the one in the master bedroom.
Despite the compact ceiling void in the master bedroom, the en-suite was a different story, allowing Visual Systems to install a pair of RBH moisture protected ceiling speakers.
A Video Tree 19in mirror bathroom TV was also installed, which was controlled from a waterproof Systemline keypad.
In the guest bathroom contractors lowered the ceiling to enable Visual Systems to install a pair of RBH ceiling speakers, much like the ones in the master bedroom en-suite.
In the study/office Visual Systems installed a pair of Anthony Gallo wall-mounted speakers, alongside a Systemline KPM7 keypad for music control.
Rounding off the installation, the first bedroom has a wall-mounted 32in Samsung TV on a cantilever arm, a pair of Anthony Gallo speakers and again, a Systemline keypad.
Bedroom two is virtually the same, although there is also the addition of a ceiling speaker in the en-suite shower room. The Samsung TV has also been wall-mounted on a fixed tilt wall bracket instead.
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