The Brief
A French banking exec and his wife host often. Dinner parties for ten on a weeknight, after-work drinks with views of the fountain show, weekend brunches that spill from the dining room onto the terrace. Their penthouse was beautifully finished but practically dumb. The blinds across 22 floor-to-ceiling windows were on hand cranks. The AV system needed three remotes. The lighting was on basic dimmers nobody could agree on.
They wanted the apartment to perform like a venue, with one-touch scenes that handled the choreography of an evening.
The Build
Lutron RadioRA 3 for lighting and shading
64 lighting circuits across all four bedrooms, the dining, living, kitchen and dressing rooms. Palladiom keypads in matte black sit by every entrance. Every circuit dims smoothly. The 22 Sivoia QS shades on the floor-to-ceiling windows track the sun automatically and recess into ceiling pockets when fully open.
Sonos in seven zones
Architectural in-ceiling speakers in the living, dining, kitchen, master, terrace and two ensuites. Sonos Arc plus Sub plus Era surrounds in the dedicated cinema room. The host can send a playlist to the whole apartment or different music to the dining room while another track plays on the terrace.
Crestron-based AV
The cinema room has a Crestron processor handling the 4K projector, lighting and shading drop. One button on the Crestron touchpanel transitions the room from "lights on" to "movie ready" in 12 seconds.
Custom scenes that do real work
- Welcome. Hallway and entry lights warm up, music kicks in at low volume, AC drops to 22°C.
- Dinner. Dining lights dim to 30%, surrounding rooms drop to 10% accent, blinds close to half, jazz plays in the dining and kitchen.
- Cinema. Living room dims to black, blinds drop, screen lowers, projector warms, surround sound engages.
- Goodnight. Everything off in entertaining areas, ensuite path lighting on, master bedroom shades close.
The Outcome
- Total scope: AED 178,000 over 11 days of installation, including the cinema build-out.
- Theatrical hosting. The owner says guests now arrive, look at the apartment, then look at him as he taps one button and watches their reaction.
- Floor-to-ceiling control. The 22 shades that used to take 20 minutes to adjust now run on a sun-tracking schedule no one notices.
- One platform. Home Assistant ties Lutron, Sonos and Crestron together so a single scene controls all three.
This project is part of our Downtown Dubai area guide and our work with Lutron lighting and shading.