The Highview Residence is a magnificent three-story home nestled in the mountains of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its owners recently completed a full, from-the-studs renovation to make sure the interiors of the house matched the exterior in terms of its high style and design — and also added a ton of technology that had to provide the family with all sorts of convenient automation and entertainment options, but not be seen.
Taking on this massive task was Premier Automation and Design and its owner Kevin Qualtrough, who reveals that his company was brought on by the project’s original builder. “The first builder was a friend of the family who took the project as far along as he could,” says Qualtrough. “He left and they brought in a second builder, but we stayed on to complete the project.”
Premier Automation and Design is a family business that specializes in luxury installations and is celebrating its 25th year. “Our philosophy is pretty simple — we lead with service and follow-up,” says Qualtrough. “A big part of our job is understanding what the clients need because most of them don’t know what it takes to make this one button do whatever they want. They just want it to happen, and they don’t care how. So, we spend a lot of time just trying to figure out their needs so we can put a package together that will deliver everything they’re after.”
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In this case, the tech-savvy client had already visited the Crestron Design Studio in California before Premier was brought on. He knew he wanted Crestron’s control system, window coverings, and AV distribution — and he knew he didn’t want any of it to be seen.
Hidden Treasures
When you first look at a picture of the outside of the home, one of the first things that leaps out is…that is a lot of windows. “About 50,” says Qualtrough, “and every one of them has Crestron motorized shades or drapes, or both.” And in keeping with the hidden-tech theme, all the shades and draperies are housed in recessed tracks.
Whole-home audio pervades the residence, with Stealth Acoustics invisible speakers and subwoofers located in the ceilings of each floor of the house and Crestron’s DM NAX system handling the audio distribution. Although not every part of the audio system is hidden: The client has an attention-grabbing self-playing Fazioli grand piano that is also part of the DM NAX system and can have its music sent throughout the house — something used quite often for parties.
Video distribution is handled via Crestron’s DM NVX system, but the televisions are not hidden — except for the ones in the gym. “We placed two TVs behind mirrors in the gym, so you can’t see them until you turn them on,” explains Qualtrough. “The mirrors are custom-made to have two-way glass in the center, where we have placed Samsung televisions. The clients wanted their Peloton sound to play through the ceiling speakers in the room, as well, so we hooked up everything — Samsungs and Peloton — to the NVX system.”
All the tech is controlled through Crestron Home, and the entire system is run through to three racks, arranged by category, that are placed in the basement. “We are controlling roughly 17 zones of heating and cooling in the house through Crestron, as well,” adds Qualtrough. “They have both radiant and HVAC in the house.”
Stylishly Seen
Of course, not everything can be hidden, so Premier made sure that anything that could be seen fit into the home’s décor. “We have 26 Crestron touchscreens in the house — all concealed with Wall-Smart mounts, so they all sit flush to the wall,” says Qualtrough. “We also have Basalte luxury keypads with Cresnet chips throughout. There are Josh.ai units in the ceiling for voice control, which are also recessed into Wall-Smart mounts.”
The home does not have a dedicated theater, but the family’s media room includes an 85-inch Samsung TV, 5.2-channel surround sound from invisible speakers, and a karaoke machine.
Did Someone Say “Scene”
While Premier did not provide or install any of the lighting fixtures, they did provide lighting control through Crestron Home OS — as well as a number of scenes.
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“For starters, we have motion controls in all utility rooms and bathrooms for lighting control,” says Qualtrough. “When they walk into these spaces, lights come on, shades go down, music turns on — whatever they wanted. That is in the laundry room, pantries, all bathrooms, walk-in closets — anywhere where you need a light every time.
“We created around 100 scenes for them after extensive interviews with them just to find out how they use the system and what they want it to do for them. His entertainment scenes are the bigger ones — a single scene could activate more than 100 different settings. He’s got Summer and Winter entertainment scenes and they fire up the piano and set all the lighting so his shades are perfect and it ties in with whatever playlist he wants. It’s pretty cool.”
Results and What’s Next
From start to finish, this project took about three years for Premier Automation and Design, but the clients are very happy with the results — and it was a Crestron Award winner in the category of Best Entertainment Everywhere Solution.
This was a massive job of wiring and placing gear in the ceilings and walls. Qualtrough credits his team for the job’s success: “This project would not have gone so well without a really solid technical team,” he says. “I would credit the award and the house and all of it to our installers and our tech guys for putting in the time to deliver exactly what this uber-high-end, very technical client wanted with no problem at all. I don’t think many teams could have done it, to be honest.”
So, while this client is extremely satisfied with the inside of his home, he has big plans for the outside. “Right now, we have audio on all five of the outdoor decks,” Qualtrough concludes. “But they are in the process of generating a landscape plan that will include pool and tennis court audio, as well as outdoor TVs. That’s the next phase. They’re still working with the city for permits. I would say we will be back out there in Spring 2026.”
