Rustic country house outside, sober inside with contemporary high-tech comfort
Interior designer Laura Calleeuw created a peaceful living space with organic shapes, vistas and natural tones for a country house in Flanders. The integrated home automation system is unobtrusively present but gives the residents all the modern comfort they need.
From the outside, the house looks like a typical old country house that fits perfectly into the vast landscape, but in fact it is a new building. The clients opted for this country style because they wanted a house that would blend nicely into its surroundings. On the inside, however, the interior was allowed to be truly contemporary. Interior designer Laura Calleeuw was given the assignment. She was also pleased with the client's choice of a home automation system from TELETASK.
Minimalist design
"As an interior designer, I think it’s perfect when home automation does not interfere with the aesthetics of my design," she explains. "It blends into the minimalist style of my interior concept. That way everything stays 'Zen'. I didn't have to adapt to certain technical elements at all, such as the location of the thermostat or another control panel. I prefer not to have things like that too visible. Because everything is integrated, very few techniques can be seen."
Those techniques were installed by Simon Van Eenoo, from VanEeCo Electrics. "I proposed TELETASK's solutions according to the residents' wishes," he says. "The customer is a project developer himself and was familiar with the system’s features."
Stylish controls
An AURUS panel is mounted in every bedroom, desk and kitchen, being eight units in total. The small displays with push buttons are stylish and modest, perfect for quick daily use. The system can also be controlled with the smartphone app. To keep an overview, residents use TELETASK's floor plan software, installed on their touchscreen PC. In the user interface, they can view and control everything per floor: lighting, sockets and videophone. In addition, passive cooling - with a heat pump - is also integrated.
Connection with the alarm system
Thanks to the connected alarm system, the preset lighting points and power sockets switch off automatically when the residents leave their home and activate the alarm, while all the lights kick on when the alarm goes off. The connection to the music system, in turn, is great for streaming music from a smartphone and adjusting the volume. Camera surveillance, a car charging station and solar panels are planned for the future.
Easy integration of additional functions
"I had previous experience with TELETASK and I find it much more convenient than a traditional solution and other automation systems," says Simon Van Eenoo. "It offers many more possibilities to integrate additional functions, it is easier to customise and it is also very user-friendly for the end customer. In this project, too, everything went according to plan and it functions exactly as the residents wanted. They can now select one of their preconfigured ‘moods’ with a simple press on the display. When choosing the 'visitors’ mood, for example, different light circuits are cosily dimmed."
Aesthetics and functionality
Thus, the technical side of this building project also contributes to the overall feel of the home. "TELETASK's system responds to innovations and the expectations of interior designers and their customers," says Laura Calleeuw. "It is a true balance between aesthetics and functionality. The control panels themselves look beautiful and can be flexibly installed in places where they are not visually intrusive. In addition, the lighting is also a real mood creator in its own right. In short, the home automation enhances the calming feeling I created in this home. Clients often want to recapture the nature and authenticity of the past, but they still expect maximum contemporary comfort. In this house, you don't feel like you are in a futuristic setting yet the home automation makes your daily life much easier. Everything blends beautifully."
This project will be featured on the Belgian TV programme Design Secrets in March 2024.