Intelligent Building Management with KNX at the Core

At the heart of the transformation is a fully integrated KNX Building Management System (BMS), designed and commissioned to unify every major service across the main house, the front and rear gardens, and the newly constructed contemporary garden room.
Rather than treating lighting, climate control, shading and environmental systems as isolated elements, a platform that aligns all services has been engineered into a single intelligent control to the client’s exacting requirements and daily routines. The result is a home that responds quietly and intuitively to its occupants, while preserving the architectural integrity of this Grade II listed property.

Lighting – Inside and Out

Lighting throughout the property is fully integrated into the KNX framework. Internally, scene-based control allows each space to transition seamlessly between day, evening and entertaining modes, with carefully calibrated dimming curves tailored to the character of each room.

Externally, both the front façade and rear garden lighting are incorporated into the same logic structure. Architectural features, pathways and planted areas are illuminated intelligently, with seasonal adjustments and security-based schedules operating in the background. The garden room lighting integrates seamlessly within this system, ensuring the extension feels like a natural continuation of the original house rather than a separate zone.

Comfort – Heating, Cooling & Environmental Control

Integrating modern comfort systems into a listed building requires precision and restraint. AVINU coordinated heating and cooling systems within the KNX backbone to ensure unified environmental control throughout the home.

Each room benefits from carefully balanced temperature management, with heating, comfort cooling and towel rail control all operating within a centralised logic strategy. Seasonal optimisation, temperature set-back modes and occupancy-linked adjustments ensure that the home remains consistently comfortable without unnecessary energy use, particularly important in heritage properties where fabric upgrades are restricted.

Automated Blinds & Solar Management

Blinds are integrated as part of the wider environmental strategy rather than functioning as standalone motorised elements. Solar gain, time of day and scene activation are all considered within the KNX logic, allowing shading to operate subtly and efficiently. This protects interior finishes, reduces glare and supports thermal performance, while maintaining the refined aesthetic of each room.

Occupancy – Intelligent Logic

Discrete occupancy detection enhances both comfort and efficiency. Transitional spaces respond automatically, guiding movement through the home in a subtle manner, while environmental systems adapt to presence and usage patterns.
Behind the scenes, carefully programmed KNX logic reflects the family’s lifestyle. The system is neither overbearing nor overly complex; it simply anticipates and supports daily routines.

Unified BMS – App & Visualisation

All building services are visualised through a dedicated BMS application, providing intuitive access to lighting, climate, shading and scene control whether the family is at home or away. Remote monitoring and control ensure flexibility without compromising security or reliability. While the user experience is elegantly simple, the underlying architecture is robust and decentralised, a hallmark of the KNX standard and a key reason it was selected for this culturally significant project.

A True Whole-Home Integration

By aligning lighting, comfort cooling and heating, shading, gardens, the new garden room, audio-visual systems and networking infrastructure within a single KNX framework, AVINU delivered a genuinely unified intelligent home.

This holistic, logic-driven integration reflects the depth of coordination undertaken across architectural, mechanical and electrical disciplines, and exemplifies the calibre of work recognised by AVINU’s 2025 Smart Building Award for Best Whole Home Integration Project.

OL-U Switches

As the interior design developed, the clients wanted a control interface that felt authentic to the warm materials of the home while delivering premium functionality.

AVINU selected the Italian manufacturer eelectron and their OL-U KNX Metal edition range in brushed bronze, chosen for its combination of refined aesthetics, tactile interaction and advanced KNX functionality. The OL-U switches provide tactile scene control, lighting adjustment, shading functions and more. The client particularly appreciated the RGB slider-bar dimmer for its intuitive, tactile interaction and exceptionally smooth operation. OL-U devices were installed in every room of the house and the separate garden room, offering a unified architectural aesthetic and premium user experience without compromising quality or performance.

Customization Process

As a unique nod to the heritage of the home, the client embraced Tolkien’s legacy by creating custom LOTR-themed icons for the OL-U switch buttons. These include symbols such as a mountain, a wizard’s hat, a ring and a flame motif – subtle, elegant references to Middle-earth that transform the control interface into a narrative element of the home.

In-House Customisation & MyCustom Portal

A key differentiator of Eelectron is its in-house customisation process, managed through the proprietary MyCustom portal. This platform allows project partners to configure finishes, layouts and button engravings with precision, translating design concepts directly into production-ready products. Custom icons and symbols are engraved using Eelectron’s in-house laser engraving machines, ensuring exceptional accuracy, consistency and quality control. This vertically integrated approach enables bespoke solutions – such as the Lord of the Rings-inspired iconography in this project – while maintaining industrial reliability and short lead times. This project also represents a milestone for Eelectron as the very first OL-U project in the United Kingdom, something the team were extremely excited about. This project benefitted from close collaboration between AVINU, Eelectron and the UK distributor Aldous Systems. AVINU worked closely with Giangiacomo Pastore, Regional Business Director – Europe, who supported the project through specification, scheduling and delivery of the newly launched OL-U range. Aldous Systems – led by Jason Aldous – played an invaluable role in product selection, costing, supply logistics and coordinating the production of the custom LOTR icon engravings.

Multi-Room Audio

Designing multi-room audio for a listed property presents unique challenges due to heritage restrictions that limit modifications to ceilings and original walls. To overcome this, AVINU designed a discreet, high-performance aud io system that integrates seamlessly into the property without affecting protected surfaces.

Working closely with the clients and interior designers, AVINU utilised Monitor Audio Vecta speakers positioned high in the corners of rooms or built into bespoke joinery. This ensures an immersive listening experience while maintaining visual discretion.

Audio extends into the garden with weather-resistant speakers, and hidden speakers at the front of the house allow the clients to play atmospheric Tolkien-inspired effects – an imaginative and memorable feature.

Televisions & Home Cinema

All television installations were integrated into bespoke joinery to avoid impacting original walls and preserve the clean lines of each room. Screens remain discreet when not in use, yet offer full functionality when needed.

The dedicated home cinema was designed and delivered by AVINU, featuring high-performance audio, acoustic treatment and automated lighting, shading and environmental control through KNX.

Data & Networking

AVINU designed and installed a robust data and networking infrastructure throughout the property using Ruckus and Ubiquiti network hardware, delivering enterprise-grade reliability and performance.

The system supports wired and wireless networking across indoor and outdoor areas, ensuring consistent connectivity for all automation, entertainment and security functions.

Summary

The transformation of Northmoor Road represents a carefully balanced convergence of heritage preservation and modern intelligent living. Through the strategic deployment of KNX as a unified Building Management System, AVINU aligned lighting, climate control, shading, audio-visual systems, gardens and data infrastructure into a single, coherent framework.

The integration extends across the historic main residence and the newly constructed contemporary garden room, ensuring architectural continuity while delivering contemporary comfort and performance. Every control interface, environmental adjustment and automation routine was tailored to the clients’ lifestyle, creating a home that responds intuitively without drawing attention to the technology behind it. From bespoke LOTR-inspired switch iconography to discreet speaker placement within heritage constraints, each decision reflects a commitment to both design integrity and technical precision. The result is not simply a smart home, but a truly integrated intelligent property – one where logic, aesthetics and lifestyle operate in harmony.