An iPad-controlled Smart APP-artment with thrilling smart technology threaded through every room opens at 41 Windmill Street, London today as a must see Home Automation experience. (11 July 2013) Dressed as a high-end domestic property, the Smart APP-artment showcases the most covetable home automation technology on the market while trading as an exclusive store. In a retail concept new to the UK, clients are invited to the Smart APP-artment with their family to experience the lifestyle benefits of the extraordinary array of products available to buy. The showroom mirrors a growing trend from the USA for experiential retailing in the field of consumer electronics. The hands-on approach allows home owners to see how new products could apply to their own lives and properties with virtually every whim catered for at the touch of a screen. Created by Cornflake – one of the UK’s leading suppliers of the ultimate home automation experience – the Smart APP-artment demonstrates how life-enhancing home automation can be in 2013. On arrival visitors are handed an iPad from which they can control every aspect of the home starting with their music and digital art choices. Customers can watch a movie in the home cinema; play games on the 2metre gaming screen and dance on the revolving floor in the games room; listen to their favourite music on some of the world’s most sonically advanced speakers in the audio room, or simply curl up in front of the i-fire and watch the pop-up smart TV with an i-coffee in the lounge. Customers can control and manage household services such as heating, lighting, blinds, security, and data throughout the Smart APP-artment via the iPad. Lights and heating automatically turn down when rooms are vacated and everything can be switched off with one button on leaving the premises. A roll-call of world class brands and manufacturers, including Apple, Bowers & Wilkins, Crestron, De Dietrich, Loewe, Lutron and Wilson Benesch are on board displaying their most advanced products. In a bid to help off-set the carbon footprint of the technology, sustainable building materials have been used throughout. The rooms feature modern materials and top-end finishes, including natural clay plaster, cork-leather wall cladding and bamboo flooring to show that hi-end designer style and green living are compatible. All of the technology is designed to run at maximum energy- and cost-saving efficiency and can also be operated remotely to improve home security. The Smart APP-artment from Cornflake launches as home automation is poised to take off as a mainstream consumer market. In the UK, the sector grew by 12 per cent last year alone and is now worth £1bn according to the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA). Robin Shephard, Cornflake’s CEO, says: “With home-owners increasingly wanting to future-proof their properties with technology, we wanted somewhere we could demonstrate the incredible opportunities available right now. You only really get a sense of the pure joy it offers when you experience it first-hand. Our clientele tend to have exceptionally busy lives often spanning multiple homes with hectic schedules across continents and time zones. This technology helps attune their environment to their personal requirements instantly.” To ensure the Smart APP-apartment affords a realistic experience an award-winning design team was commissioned. Top interior designer April Russell was tasked with styling. High-end eco-contractor Ecoism Manufacturing Limited undertook the build using modern sustainable materials. International architect Julian Arendt Associates configured the internal room layout while specialist acousticians calibrated the Audio Room to provide the best possible listening experience for clients. Visitors to the Smart APP-artment are by appointment on Monday to Friday, and by request at weekends. For booking details visit www.cornflake.co.uk ENDS PRESS AND PR: For media interviews, photographs or more information please contact Ruth Deans on 07752 990431 or Fiona Longhurst on 07803 182871. If you are a journalist and would like to arrange a visit to The Smart APP-artment please get in touch with Ruth or Fiona to organise a date. Background notes: In 2011 the UK home automation experience market was worth around £65 million at Distributors Selling Prices (DSP), representing a 12% increase on the previous year (source BusinessWire). With the market for home automation systems less impacted by the economic downturn there is currently high demand for home automation solutions in top-end luxury homes. The growth of smart technology in the UK – not least sales of digital flat panel technologies such as smart phones and smart TVs – combined with the rapid growth of digital audio and video streaming is also helping to drive demand for whole house automation. By 2016 it is estimated that the UK home automation market will be worth some £156 million at DSP (source: AMA Research). According to Berg Insight’s 2011 Home Automation report, the number of new smart home installations worldwide was 0.44 million in 2010 and, with market growth predicted at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65 per cent, installations are expected to reach 5.38 million by 2015, with total revenues growing simultaneously at a CAGR of 32.8 per cent from US$ 2.3 billion in 2010 to almost US$ 9.5 billion by 2015 due to a perfect confluence of market, regulatory, strategic and technology trends.