You know display homes have 'upped the ante' when you see fully automated systems forming an integral part of their design. Comdain Builders' new display project, the 'Tempo Urbane' in North Balwyn, Melbourne, is a winning combination of style and smarts.
Many Australians are expressing a strong interest in smarthouses, particularly new home builders. They are seeing how a fully-automated home increases property value and provides a more comfortable, safer style of living. The Tempo Urbane reflects what most Australians find important in their lifestyles: comfort, security and home entertainment.
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A journey into a smarthouse world begins when your car heads into the driveway: the house senses the vehicle's arrival and opens the garage. It unlocks the front door, turns off the security system and welcomes you with a night-time lighting path and your favourite CD. Sounds good, doesn't it?
Visitors to Tempo Urbane won't experience this particular scenario for obvious reasons, but the project effectively showcases how a fully-automated integration works by presenting a model that's both interactive and informative.
When you visit the display home, for instance, the motion-activated audio guide explains its unique smarthouse features. Once you reach the home theatre, a presentation displays on the plasma again describing the project's automated features. After this, you will be invited to use the Tempo's Crestron touchscreens (the simple-to-use interface between you and the technology) to see how hassle-free it is to utilise home automation.
Smarts aside, the Tempo Urbane has bold lines, strong colours and presents a combination of different materials: black-glazed Willis bricks; an external glazed brick plinth; ruled render lines on the exterior; and galvanised window eyebrows over sashless double-hung windows.
The simple, but contemporary look on the outside continues into a well-lit interior, with north-facing windows and a blend of 25 different paint colours that doesn't look as odd as it sounds. The ceiling heights vary throughout the display home, soaring to 4m in the upstairs area's rake ceilings to 2.7m elsewhere.
Downstairs, you'll find the study, kitchen/dining area, home theatre, lounge room, informal family room, powder room and laundry. Upstairs, there's the master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and walk-in robe gallery; two children's bedrooms and a play/study room, bathroom as well as a study/hobby area for the grownups - complete with extensive hidden cabling and, of course, smart-enabled.
