Lighting · October 15, 2026
Lights on before five.
From November 1 the sun sets before five here. What a house should do about that, and why nobody should have to touch a switch.
Journal
Notes from the field.
Written for people planning a house, and for the architects and builders drawing one. Mostly the things we wish everyone knew before the walls closed.
Smart Home Planning · May 14, 2026
When to bring us into a build
The most expensive systems we install are the ones specified after the drywall goes up. A short case for an early phone call.
Smart Home Planning · April 2, 2026
Lighting scenes that age well
The best lighting programming is written twice: once on handover day, and once after a season of living with it.
Project Spotlights · February 20, 2026
Project spotlight: a Bedford farmhouse with nothing on the ceiling
A ground-up house shaped by a single instruction from the architect, and the framing-stage work that made it possible.
Networking · January 9, 2026
Why Wi-Fi struggles in old Westchester houses
Stone, lath and plaster were not built with 6 GHz in mind. Here is what actually fixes it.
Networking · September 16, 2025
Getting the house ready for a school year that runs on Wi-Fi
Classes, homework uploads and a parent on video calls all landing on the same connection. What actually has to change.
Outdoor · March 4, 2025
Outside, on the same system as the rest of the house
Lighting, audio and a television that survives a winter, run from the same control you already use indoors.
Smart Home Planning · April 12, 2019
One system, not a drawer full of apps
The difference between a house with smart devices in it and a house that actually works is whether the pieces talk to each other.
Outdoor · April 5, 2019
What it takes to make a backyard genuinely usable
Sound that carries properly, a screen you can see in daylight, coverage that reaches the end of the garden.
Trade · March 15, 2019
Technology that disappears into the room
For builders and architects: how to specify a system that performs without fighting the interior.
Networking · March 8, 2019
Why the network is the system everything else depends on
Streaming that stalls and pages that hang are usually not a speed problem. They are a design problem.
Smart Home Planning · March 1, 2019
What Lutron actually buys you
Light changes a room more than furniture does. The technical reasons Lutron does it better are worth knowing.
Trade · February 27, 2019
How we work on a design-build
For builders and architects: what integrating early actually changes, and what we take off your plate.
Smart Home Planning · February 27, 2019
Distributing video over the network instead of over cable
AV over IP changed how video moves around a house. Here is what it means in practice.
Smart Home Planning · February 18, 2019
Smart devices are not the same thing as a smart home
Thermostats, doorbells and locks that each work perfectly, separately, are not a system.
Smart Home Planning · May 31, 2019
Where a DIY smart home runs out of road
Off-the-shelf devices are easy to buy and easy to install. The trouble starts at about the fifth one.
Networking · June 24, 2019
When fibre is worth it in a house
Bandwidth, durability, signal over distance, and room to grow, the arguments for running glass instead of copper.
Outdoor · June 28, 2019
Three things that make a garden genuinely usable
A screen you can see in daylight, and coverage that reaches the far end of the lawn.
Smart Home Planning · July 10, 2019
The case for one app: and when it isn't the answer
Consolidating everything into one interface is usually right. Here is the honest version of when it isn't.
Outdoor · July 17, 2019
Setting up a patio for football season
Early autumn is the best weather of the year here, and the worst time to be watching the game indoors.
Networking · September 12, 2019
The signs your network is the actual problem
Lag, dead spots and a house that gets slower every time something new is added.
Trade · September 20, 2019
Motorized shades versus blinds, for people specifying them
For interior designers: what motorized treatments do that manual ones structurally cannot.
Smart Home Planning · December 23, 2019
Bringing an existing hi-fi into a Sonos system
Port or Amp, how to keep the amplifier and speakers you already own and still have music everywhere.
Lighting · June 17, 2019
Three things lighting control actually gives you
Beyond dimming: making an empty house look occupied, wall plates worth looking at, and scenes that run themselves.
Lighting · July 23, 2019
Circadian lighting, explained plainly
Light that changes colour through the day to match what your body expects from the sun.
Smart Home Planning · September 4, 2019
Music in every room, and different music in each
Multi-room audio is less about volume than about the house doing several things at once.
Smart Home Planning · September 12, 2019
Why we specify Lutron for motorized shades
Hembar alignment, genuinely silent motors, and 1,500 fabrics, the specifics behind the recommendation.
Start a project
Tell us about the space. We'll come out and give you a straightforward plan.
The consultation is complimentary and it starts with a walkthrough or a set of drawings. You will leave it knowing what is realistic in your house, what it costs, and what can wait until phase two.