Imagine a modern residential design that is provocative, yet simple and minimal, and maintains elegance via traditional cues at the same time. This would be a tough mixture for any designer to balance. Yet, this is exactly what architect Robert Gurney of Robert Gurney Architect created with this modern brick home in Washington, D.C. With the design bar set so high, the technology in this home had to meet that bar perfectly. Enter Lutron Sivoia and Homeworks QS; these products combined engineering that works along with elevated aesthetics that blended seamlessly with the environment. By working with cutting-edge shade technology and intuitive control offered by the custom lighting ecosystem, Atlantic Control Technologies, over a two-year timespan, amalgamated all that into a functional, consistent and great-looking connected-home solution.

Modern residences often include a lot of glass, presenting challenges with control of sunlight and heat generation – and this 10,000-square-foot home was no exception. The unobtrusive, motorized window shades selected were the perfect solution to mitigate this potential energy consumption issue through the use of specially engineered fabric that offered the added benefit of fitting in seamlessly with the décor. The lineal boxes they rested in were finished to match the architectural finish of the home so when the shades retracted, they hid away neatly.

custom lighting

This system provides the owner with simple, flawless control – from anywhere in the world. The flexibility of the system to control a large quantity and range of wired and wireless devices and fixtures at the same time made it a standout. And the ability to provide automation through time clock settings and wireless connection to the available-anywhere app was an unparalleled tool as well. Atlantic Control Technologies was able to harness this control to create intuitive, consistent keypad layouts by selecting a keypad model that fit the look, feel and minimalism of the environment.

As LED lighting becomes more versatile, it is in higher and higher demand in the marketplace for its energy efficiency and eco-friendliness. However, this emerging technology comes with its own challenging set of parameters to keep in mind when designing a lighting system. The fixtures, lamps and control system selected by Atlantic Control Technologies all helped to maximize the lighting system performance. Using additional resources to help plan LED bulb and fixture compatibility was especially important on this large project, where over 90 percent of the specified fixtures and bulbs were LED.

Fifteen ‘control stations’ were installed in this home as the primary source of user interface in addition to the lighting keypads. These consisted of an iPort wall-mounted iPad with app- based audio, security and lighting control, and a modern illuminated OnQ integrated intercom. The homeowner mandated having these stations throughout the home, and the challenge of keeping the controls consistent for the user was met at every turn, through the lighting app selected for the project. It was loaded onto iPads in every control station to repeat the same functionality at each. The app allowed easy, intuitive control of virtually every shade and fixture in the home, at any location in the home, or even while away.