Duke Street - UK

West side story

Just a stone’s throw from one of London’s top department stores in Mayfair, 65 Duke Street is a high-end 16 apartment residential development by Grosvenor. A benchmark for luxury living and integrated technology within a multiple scheme development, the project has earned a prestigious industry award.

The apartments range from 1 to 3 bedrooms, are spread across five storeys and all enjoy integration of security (with video entry), lighting, HVAC and AV via simple to operate Crestron touch panels.

Tenants access the building using keyless entry proximity cards which avoids the need to change locks and simplifies key management. They can also control many aspects of the automation via iPad Apps.

Being Grade 2 listed the challenge, how and where to fit speakers so that they did not alter the aesthetics of the ceilings. Amina Evolution Series invisible loudspeakers were specified instantly for the living room 5.1 surround sound systems (AIW350E-S200) and also for the master bedrooms and the majority of second bedrooms (AIW150E-S200). The 5.1 systems also employ Velodyne Subcontractor Series subwoofers within joinery to help create hugely impressive audio effects with absolutely zero visual impact.

“S200” versions of the Amina AIW150E and AIW350E were specified due to the smaller than usual spacing available between the ceiling framework. So, rather than have to re-frame the ceilings to accommodate Amina’s standard size speakers, “S200’s” were installed with minimum fuss. Thankfully it’s a situation that Amina had already foreseen – hence the design of the narrow “S200” models several years ago to widen the application range for invisible sound.

The second challenge for the Integrator was to satisfy the building regulations on the project and maintain a 60 minute fire rating where the Amina speakers were fitted. Always keen to take on a challenge the product development team at Amina quickly designed a bespoke 60 minute fire hood solution to fit exactly within the building ceiling structures – thus not delaying the tight building schedules in place.

The finished results speak for themselves. Neither the modern high-end finish of the apartments nor the Grade 2 listing of the building have hindered the integration of the latest home automation technologies. Amina Technologies invisible loudspeakers continue to provide integrators with high quality sound solutions where other manufacturers’ products do not meet developers’ requirements.

The 2013 CEDIA award for Best Multiple Scheme for a Property Developer is justly deserved. 

Kit list:
-Amina AIW350E-S200 & AIW150E-S200 invisible loudspeakers
-Amina custom 60 minute fire hoods
-Amina APU-RS8E rack mount speaker protection units

-Lutron HomeWorks QS lighting system
-Crestron MC3 main control processor
-Crestron TSW-750 touch panels
-Crestron MLX-3 hard button remote controls
-Apple iPad Minis with Crestron Control App’
-Crestron AAEI power amplifiers
-Yamaha AV amplifiers
-Velodyne Subcontractor Series subwoofers concealed in joinery
-Rotel tuner/media players
-Crestron iPod docks
-Aquavision TVs
-Samsung 8000 series TVs
-Apple TVs
-WyreStorm HDMI matrices