Lux Awards 2015

The Lux Awards take place every year awarding those who are doing outstanding things within the lighting industry. This year’s event is taking place on November 19th and former KNX trainee and longstanding Ivory Egg customer, KNX Controls have been nominated for ‘Controls Project of the Year’. 
KNX Controls project ‘Kingston-upon-Thames’ a private residence spread over 4 floors, covering approximately 1,500sqm is the project that has made the shortlist for the prestigious lighting award.

The team was asked to design a lighting scheme that was not only simple to operate and control, but also met the family’s needs, complemented and enhanced the size and scale of the house, which in turn needed a control system that could cope with its demands. 

KNX was used throughout to control all the home automation applications; lighting, blinds/curtains, heating, ventilations, air-conditioning, and entertainment systems.

As lighting designers and home automation integrators, a rare combination in the industry, they were able to create smart and complex lighting control. Each circuit has individual control and also smart control via scenes throughout the entire house. 

Different methods of lighting control were used in the project. Phase dimming and 1-10v for smooth dimming and efficient control, and DALI control used with KNX to create a powerful and flexible lighting system. 

The family bowling lane in the entertainment area was lit by a concealed track system using DALI drivers and control for the LEDs, giving maximum lighting flexibility and allowing efficient dimming down to 1%. Colour-changing plaster lighting in the entertainment area were also controlled by DALI, and the colour sequences were produced by the Gira Homeserver. 

The Gira Homeserver was providing the control and visualization aspect for the home with access through the Gira Control 19, located in the kitchen as a central controller. Additional iPad’s were mounted in Basalte docks with the Homeserver app on each floor to ensure the family had access to the lighting and building control at all levels of the house. 

Heating and Air Conditioning in and outside of the home was sufficiently covered, with over 30 heating zones including the driveway. To remove the possibility of any unsightly wall acne, lighting keypads were used to measure temperature to control heating and air-conditioning. The driveway’s snowmelt system – a very innovative addition to the property, used a sensor in the drive to measure the temperature and moisture levels. In the event of the outdoor temperature reaching below 2°C and snow or frost occurs, the under drive heating loops are activated. When to drive is dry the heating turns off. 

Moving out of the home, external lighting was intricately designed with several zones, each with specific uses. To ensure full security, motion sensors were installed in all 4 aspects of the home. In case of an intruder or if a fire is detected the LEDs in the room switches flash red as an additional alert to the family. Should the smoke detector sound, the blinds rise to allow an emergency exit. 

As a result of the project, the homeowner was very pleased with the system and quickly mastered the controls and interface. This project demonstrates how well KNX works with other lighting solutions and the vast skill on KNX Controls. 

We want to take the opportunity to say congratulations and good luck to KNX Controls who completed their KNX certification course with us and have now been shortlisted for this prestigious award.