URC has announced the winners of its 7th annual Unsurpassed Awards. Launched in 2014, URC’s Unsurpassed Awards celebrate excellence in residential and commercial automation installations. Entries are accepted from domestic URC dealers and international distributors. Categories for consideration include Best Residential, Best Commercial, Most Unique, and Best International.
Entries for the 2021 competition showcase unique smart residential and commercial installations featuring creative system design, distinctive environments, and advanced implementations.
“With URC’s support and superior products, our dealers continue to surprise and delight us with creative installations in diverse environments,” says Mr. Chang K. Park, URC founder. “We thank all of our dealers for their dedication, especially those who entered our annual celebration of excellence. Our community has never been stronger.”
This year’s entries include prior winners, like PWCampbell, Hemag Inc., and C.A.V.E.S., who consistently excel, as well as dealers new to the competition like Beverly Hills Smart Homes, TecHDemand, JPP Technologies, and Wavelength Audio Video. Two categories were so competitive, that ties were created to recognize the incredible projects.
Winners of the 2021 URC’s Unsurpassed Awards include the following URC dealers:
Best Residential Installation – USA: Hemag, Inc.
Hemag, Inc. (Miami, FL) won URC’s Best Residential Installation Award for a stunning installation in Coral Gables, FL. This system delivered automation and integrated control throughout the property — from front gate to the deluxe pool, patio, and gazebo. Featuring 12 Zones of URC’s High-Definition Audio (HDA) with multiple sources, hundreds of voice commands, and seamless integrations with several sub-systems. Controlled by URC’s Total Control system and several URC controllers, base stations, and remotes, the installation featured lighting powered by Lutron Radio RA 2, DoorBird intercom, gate control and front door, Somfy RTS shade motors, Racchio irrigation, Roku TV, and DirectTV. The homeowner was “extremely happy” with Hemag’s vision and appreciated how the project was “super organized.”
Best Commercial Installation – USA: YES Installation
YES Installation (Dallas, TX) won URC’s Best Commercial Installation Award for a breakthrough installation at the headquarters of beverage brand BuzzBallz. The collaboration produced an engaging environment capturing the creativity and energy of this unique, fast-growing Texas-based company. Using URC’s Total Control to integrate the brand’s day-to-day operations, YES Installation programmed several macros to provide one touch or voice control delivered through multiple touch screens like URC’s TKP-9600 and TKP-5600. Large video devices, like a BenQ projector, 120-inch Dragonfly screen, 75-inch Samsung TV, and dual 55-inch Samsung TV, placed in the “Tomb Room,” enabled easy conferencing and streaming content. YES Installation created a commercial space worthy of this beverage innovator.
Most Unique Installation – USA: Wavelength Audio Video
Wavelength Audio Video (Bernardsville, NJ) won URC’s Most Unique Installation Award with an entry unlike any other. Tim Manning and the team at Wavelength partnered with Bill Shea, who created an authentic Back the Future experience around a DeLorean used in the film. Using URC’s Total Control, Wavelength created a one-of-a-kind experience by integrating animatronics. This project utilizes built-in sensors and relays included in URC’s MRX-30 Premium System Controller for a completely immersive integration with DMX animatronics software. The system triggers TVs, scenes, events, lighting, video content, and much more for a seamless reproduction of the movie’s opening scene. By adding a crystal-clear audio track and ability to pause and restart the tour, you have a winning installation. Tim Manning, Wavelength’s design solutions lead, stated, “No other automation platform allows the creativity and adaptability that needed for a project of this caliber as Total Control.”
Best International Installation: IDES (Edinburgh, Scotland)
IDES won URC’s Best International Installation Award for giving a historic home in the West End of Edinburgh a high-tech update. As featured in Hidden Wires magazine, IDES used the power of URC’s Total Control automation system to integrate with KNX, HEOS, Hikvision, DoorBird, Denon, and more.
Using a variety of URC’s touch screens (four TKP-9600s, four TRC-820s, and one TRC-1080) and handheld remotes, Stephen Kerr, technical director at IDES, designed and programmed the system for seamless control. Kerr stated, “The URC system [Total Control] automates the entire process so the client only needs to press one button.”
The complete list of award-winning installations includes:
- Best Residential Installation – USA
- Gold: Hemag, Inc. (Coral Gables Residence)
- Silver: Beverly Hills Smart Homes (Santa Monica Beachfront Condo)
- Bronze (Tie): C.A.V.E.S. Integration (Lakehouse Lodge)
- Bronze (Tie): Wavelength Audio Video (Secret Game Room)
- Best Commercial Installation – USA
- Gold: YES Installation (BuzzBallz Headquarters)
- Silver: TecHDemand (Tiki Lee’s Dock Bar )
- Bronze (Tie): PWCampbell (Greylock Federal Credit Union)
- Bronze (Tie): PWCampbell (Arize Federal Credit Union)
- Most Unique Installation – USA
- Gold: Wavelength Audio Video (Doc’s Workshop)
- Silver: PWCampbell (Alpha Labs)
- Bronze: JPP Technologies (Train Pavilion)
- Best International Installation
- Gold: IDES (Grove Street Project)
- Silver: Hidden Home Technology (Hempstead House)
Winners receive awards and publicity ranging from crystal awards to digital/social badges to features in press releases and publications.
For more information visit www.urc-automation.com.
