“So a guy walks into a showroom…” Thus begins the odyssey of one of Shawn Hansson’s favorite success stories, a $420,000 design and installation project that challenged his company, Logic Integration, of Centennial, CO, to integrate residential systems, including lighting control, shades, AV, and TV lifts, into an easy-to-use interface that would reach into virtually every space in a new 9,800-square-foot home.
The contemporary home, south of Denver, was built as a primary residence for clients that collect art and own multiple properties around the country. They wanted an energy-efficient, automated house for their visiting children, grandchildren, and other guests, and a place where everyone and anyone would be able to operate the systems. “I mean fountains, lighting, everything,” said Hansson, Logic Integration’s founder and CEO. “It’s all Crestron controlled, and includes one of the most intense lighting systems we’ve done.”
(Above) Logic Integration’s client wanted to hide his projector behind a beam, which created the need for a long-throw lens. Shades allow everything to be hidden or revealed and the motorized curtains can seal off the room. The client also requested elegant speakers, grills off, and Hansson suggested Monitor Audio.
Logic Integration’s founder and CEO Shawn Hanssen (top, left), Isaac Moyle (bottom, left) served as project Manager, Joshua Trujillo (far right) as lead tech. Not pictured is the company’s Crestron programmer, Chris Jensen.
In addition to Lutron lighting control in every room, with more than 300 lighting loads, the home has 16 audio zones, eight zones of HD video, a Crestron Quad processor for watching four images at once on any screen, Crestron Smart UPS, 15 shade areas, several TV lifts over fireplaces, DirectTV, and VUDU TV. Products include Monitor Audio, James, and Niles loudspeakers, Integra, Marantz, Lexicon, Escient, and ReQuest Multimedia. Three garages house the client’s car collection, all with lighting control and a large basement garage with an AV system.
The venture was initiated when Villa Reale Custom Homes brought the client into the Logic showroom. “The builder approached us because we’ve worked with them in the past, and they know we are Crestron experts,” Hansson said. “The client and I recognized each other immediately; I had worked on another of his homes in California when I was with another company. I was able to pull up a shot of his neighborhood there, and he was amazed. I’m a saver, and this time it paid off.”
Founded by Hansson in 2004, Logic has a staff of seven and divides its projects evenly between residential and commercial. “We’re a huge Crestron house, and we’ve done eight residential projects with their new DigitalMedia distribution system, sending HDMI around the building. For this house, which did not include DigitalMedia, Isaac Moyle and Casey Craig were our system design engineers. Chris Jensen, of Control Authority, made all the interface technology tangible and easy to use.”
The main floor theater, designed to look as a family room when not in use as a dedicated theater, highlights one of Logic’s more unique applications with a TPMC-8. A 65-inch Sharp LCD rises from the floor via an Auton lift. Along with a 110- inch Stewart front-projection screen, a Digital Projection Titan 1080P HD-250 drops from the ceiling courtesy of an Auton custom projector lift.
“We designed it so the client could choose either the TV or the projector, and the rest of the room would automate according to which display they wanted,” Hansson said. “The interface is very easy for selecting the display, and then the source and the rest happens without having to think about it.
The client wanted a commercial-grade-output projector that could display HD on a large screen with a little ambient light in the room. “We also needed a long-throw lens, because of a bar and some seating at the back of the room,” Hanson noted. “The client wanted to hide the projector behind a beam so it had to have that lens.”
There is acoustical fabric all around the room, and on it are 3-D custom-made movie posters by Dan Coch of Fabri Craft, in Denver. Shades allow everything to be hidden or revealed and the motorized curtains can seal off the room.
(Above) In a “great room,” a 52-inch Sony LCD TV drops down with Auton lift and an unusual application. “We custom made stone to match the fireplace’s travertine for the bottom of the lift,” Logic Integration CEO Shawn Hansson said, “so when the TV is recessed you’d never know it’s there. The stone is magnetic so if we need to service the TV we can pull it away from the stone. This is the first time we’ve done that.”
(Right) Three garages house the client’s car collection, all with lighting control and a large basement garage with an AV system.
The client also requested elegant speakers, grills off, and Hansson suggested Monitor Audio. “They have great sound quality, and the client liked the way they looked in front of the lighting,” he said.
The theater has wall sconces, six LED lighting zones for speakers alone, four large chandeliers, and six zones of shade control. A Crestron eigh-tinch touchpanel runs the room–including wholehouse lighting–and Logic Integration just added Microsoft Connect. There’s a Blu-ray player and three gaming systems which are hidden in a cabinet.
A 22-inch LCD flip-down TV serves the adjacent kitchen. An attached “gathering room” features a 52-inch Sony LCD with an Auton lift and a swing arm, so it can be tucked away. James subs, hidden in drywall, and Monitor speakers with faux-painted grills serve the room. The room has a 12- inch tabletop Crestron control panel for fountain control and indoor/outdoor lighting themes and an iPod dock.
In a “great room,” a 52-inch Sony LCD TV drops down with Auton lift and an unusual application. “We custom made stone to match the fireplace’s travertine for the bottom of the lift,” Hansson said, “so when the TV is recessed you’d never know it’s there. The stone is magnetic so if we need to service the TV we can pull it away from the stone. This is the first time we’ve done that.”
The main floor master suite, with an LCD and Auton lift, has a 5.1 Monitor surround sound system with James in-wall subs. His and her remotes control lighting and shades. The master bath has two 22-inch LCD screens, each with its own speakers and video zone, behind mirrors. There is full lighting control and phone access by each sink. A 24-inch iMac is used by the client for e-mail, and there is music throughout the shower, steam room, and closet areas.
The client’s wife has a main-floor study with an LCD, eight-inch touchpanel and lighting and shade control. Next to it is a “grandkids room” with an iMac and an LCD.
In addition to Lutron lighting control in every room, with more than 300 lighting loads, the home has 16 audio zones, eight zones of HD video, a Crestron Quad processor for watching four images at once on any screen, Crestron Smart UPS, 15 shade areas, several TV lifts over fireplaces, DirectTV, and VUDU TV. Products include Monitor, James, and Niles loudspeakers, Integra, Marantz, Lexicon, Escient, and ReQuest Multimedia.
The client’s large second-floor study, accessible from a kitchen stairway, has a Mac Pro Tower with dual 24-inch LED screens, and MacBook Air. “We added a Crestron feed on his screens so he can watch any source such as a picture in picture,” Hansson said.” There’s also a 46-inch Samsung LCD with an Auton art lift.”
Future plans for upgrades include building a game room with big screen in an empty 20 x 30 room, a second theater upstairs, and an upgrade to Crestron DigitalMedia, Hansson said. “We are also putting in an ihiji solution, so we can remotely manage everything on the network. It’s essentially a box we install to monitor all the Crestron panels and gear; it will e-mail us, and we have a 52-inch screen to alert us. Ihiji is the best, and I’ve worked with them since they started.”
This project, Hanssen added, is one of Logic’s top 10 best ever. “We integrated these systems together to make them work seamlessly. There was a lot of planning and engineering, and we did full-scale D-Tools drawings. Rob Christensen and Dave Price in Denver’s Crestron office helped us integrate with the Lutron lighting system. During construction, the client decided to add about 30 percent more lighting loads. We had to expand the system in a major way. You have to roll with punches. That was what the customer liked, that we were flexible and used good documentation. That’s very important because if you get frustrated and impatient the client will be afraid to mention things, but if you work with the client and plan you will have a better end product.”
Karen Mitchell is a freelance writer in Boulder, CO.
