The Clink

Smart Home | Smart Lighting | Smart Security | Home Cinema

Working with the property developer, we were commissioned to develop a user-friendly and engaging smart home experience throughout the property including a bespoke audio-visual system to our client’s requirements.

Developers

JSRE Properties

The Brief

Our client, a keen audiophile, was seeking a fully integrated and intuitive smart home with high grade audio-visual solutions, a range of security options and a home cinema for his stunning riverside apartment. We presented all the options at our Fitzrovia showroom, together with our comprehensive user interface so he could see how easy it would be to manage his own property both at home, and remotely, when abroad.

The Project

This duplex loft was originally two properties that were converted into a single lateral apartment over 4,000 sq. ft. in a former riverside wharf building. Cornflake designs all projects with respect to the fabric and architecture of each building and we specialise in this type of comprehensive home automation project, for which we won two CEDIA Awards 2021 in the Integrated Home Level III category, and in the category of Media Room Level 1.

There was a mix of construction materials to which we had to be sensitive during the design and build, together with restricted ceiling heights on the upper floor, and limited ceiling voids for services. The installation had to be sympathetic to the stunning architecture of the property so we had to develop advanced solutions about how to deliver raw materials including large acoustic isolation sheets into the property for the bespoke home cinema.

To achieve the incredible end results for this integrated home automation and home cinema project, we worked closely with the developer in a very collaborative way. With so many different elements to consider, the design process was extensive. From the start, we provisioned a failover 5G connection to the property, because connectivity into the building was poor and this was in case of limited speeds or any network issues into the building during the installation.

We also developed a personalised Cornflake app with an easy-to-use graphic user interface that was custom-designed for this property, where all automated aspects can be controlled and adjusted within the home using fixed or roaming iPads, or remotely via a smartphone or tablet.

Smart Electric Blinds

With a wealth of windows in this two-floor property, we specified Lutron shading as the window solution. Their stylish blinds are silent, energy efficient and work seamlessly with on-wall control devices and with the Cornflake user interface with pre-set options.

Smart Lighting

We specified Lutron Lighting Controls as they feature best-in-class dimming controls and work with on-wall control devices and with the Cornflake user interface where lighting themes and scenes can be created in every room including the bedrooms, bathrooms, home gym, kitchen, living, dining, reception and media room.

Smart Security

Using Crestron as the control hardware, we created a custom graphic user interface (GUI) on fixed and roaming iPads to enable a variety of interfacing capabilities with specialist sub-systems including a fire alarm, intruder alarm, CCTV and HVAC Building Management System (BMS), all with flexible programming.

The Media Room

Winner of the CEDIA Award 2022 in the category of Media Room Level 1, the audio and visual solutions in this luxury apartment had to be subtly integrated within the large open plan interior layout. This is split into two zones, one for entertaining, with a bar and a pool table. The other zone, separated by a stylish sofa, is for relaxing, reading books, listening to music, gaming or watching television. Throughout the entire space, the sound quality had to reach the high expectations of our audiophile client.

On either side of the large fireplace are tall bookshelves with a slimline TV screen above. Within the joinery itself we installed Dynaudio Bookshelf Speakers. In addition are voice-matched Dynaudio 3.1 LCR Media Audio speakers and subwoofers, width and height-matched for a discrete and highly considered finish, that are also subtly installed in the bar and entertainment zone. These are all complemented by a range of Sonance Architectural install speakers to provide good quality background audio invisibly fitted in ceilings and in walls, perfect for surround sound acoustics.

Discreetly recessed within the ceiling is a Projecta Concealed drop-down projector screen to convert this living space into a fully immersive media room for watching films and streaming videos.

The Clink Cinema

Cornflake has years of experience in the custom installation of home cinemas and we are award-winning best-in-class specialists in this field. This bespoke home cinema was one of the most satisfying aspects of the project, but also the most thought-provoking, because of the space we were working in.

We converted a bedroom on the upper floor of the apartment that was an asymmetrical rhombus with limited ceiling height. It also had pipework that served this, and the adjacent, properties so we had to take that into consideration at the design stage. This required a very attentive approach to ensure we were designing within the smallest tolerances to ensure that our client could still receive the best smart audio solutions within the constrained space.

Our task was to design a luxury home cinema with reference level sound, yet in an older property that could potentially present a noise issue. To mitigate any sound transfer to adjacent rooms, and neighbouring apartments, we installed the cinema on rubber feet and decoupled it from the rest of the structure using high density wall and ceiling materials to absorb acoustic energy.

We designed all of the audio visual, IT and Control services together with the turnkey home cinema, created by Cornflake with all the components that the client required. This included the reclining leather seats, which were made bespoke with stitching to match the interior scheme. We incorporated recessed LED linear lighting by Lightwalls Dynamic Lighting, with a dynamic lighting controller for the most engaging and immersive lighting effects when watching a movie.

We specified a Meyer Sound Dolby Atmos cinema speaker configuration to achieve reference level audio within the space. On the rear wall, and in a void created by the rear speakers and the subwoofers, we installed a vertically mounted, yet concealed Barco Native Cinemascope projector to maximise the full width and height of the Auto Masking projector screen in front by DT Screens with native aspect ratio content for multi-use of the space.

Finer Details

We curate every project using smart home technologies from leading global industry partners.

Lighting Controls throughout the property with keypads finish-matched to the electrical accessories

Automated shading (utilising existing motors and recesses where possible)

Enterprise data network and WiFi coverage throughout the property. Connectivity was poor to the building, so a fail-over 5G antenna was also installed

A range of discrete and high-performance audio solutions using products selected specifically for that room/purpose

Centralised video distribution installed to minimise in-room equipment and allow easy system management and long-term servicing and aftercare

Bespoke Cornflake graphic user interface capturing client-specific customisation as well as our in-house expertise and recommendations

Testimonial

“JSRE Partners were instructed to survey and subsequently, design and project manage a full ‘turn -key’ refurbishment programme at Clink Wharf. Cornflake London was selected to realise our intentions on the home automation and home theatre elements of the project. Cornflake’s engineers brought our extensive lighting design to life. Also ensuring our client had full control of multiple areas at the touch of a button. The new home cinema means, staying in this new going out, for our movie buff client, who upon completion of the project, was presented with a truly remarkable space. ”