Case study

    Michel Drive

    Lighting, music and a dedicated cinema, planned from the start

    Built for Nathan Dart's father, Michel Drive brings together Control4 lighting, music through the living spaces and a 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos cinema, designed into a new Currumbin Waters home before the walls went up.

    Living room with leather seating, linear ceiling lighting and large doors opening towards a deck.
    The living room, with linear lighting and wide doors opening to the front deck.

    Location

    Currumbin Waters, Queensland

    Scope

    Residential technology design and integration

    Focus

    Lighting, music, cinema and future-ready cabling

    Control

    Control4 throughout

    The systems at Michel Drive

    Lighting control

    Control4 panelised lighting and personalised keypads

    Comfort

    Motorised blinds and ceiling fans

    Living room

    5.1 surround sound

    Front deck

    Outdoor audio, linked to the living room

    Master bedroom

    Concealed Triad 2.1 audio

    Dedicated cinema

    7.2.4 Dolby Atmos theatre

    Pool and garden

    Origin Acoustics landscape speakers around the sheltered pool

    Equipment rack

    A dedicated, self-cooling AV rack, discreetly housed for easy service access

    01

    A brief built on experience

    Nathan had already designed the technology at Brocks Road, his father's previous home, and had seen how it was used day to day. That gave him a head start at Michel Drive. He could build on what had worked there, give his father more of what he enjoyed, and plan cabling for what might come next.

    Some of the most important decisions were made before the rooms took shape. The face-brick entry and stairwell needed switch and keypad locations resolved before the masonry was laid and filled. Getting those provisions in early allowed the controls to sit neatly within the architecture.

    02

    Lighting for every setting

    Control4 panelised lighting and personalised keypads brought every circuit into one system. Linear lighting through the living room, hallways and kitchen dims to suit cooking, entertaining or a quiet evening.

    The simplest scene became the most used. Lamp mode switches off most of the main lighting and leaves the lamps casting a soft glow. Motorised blinds and integrated ceiling-fan control complete the comfort of each room.

    Kitchen island beneath linear ceiling lights, with dining and living spaces beyond.
    The kitchen, with linear lighting running through to the dining and living areas.

    03

    Music through the living spaces

    In the living room, a 5.1 surround system pairs discreet in-ceiling speakers with a subwoofer concealed beneath a floating shelf. The television sits on an articulating mount so it can turn towards the front deck, and the living and deck audio zones can be linked.

    In the master bedroom, a Triad Designer Series 2.1 system delivers full, rich sound for television in bed. The speaker enclosures were secured in the roof trusses before the plasterboard went up, then the small-aperture openings were plaster-set into the ceiling. The sound has real presence, with very little of the system on show.

    Living room television and floating shelf beside open doors to the covered deck.
    The living room, with the subwoofer concealed beneath the floating shelf.
    Covered deck with lounge chairs, a glass balustrade and views into trees.
    The covered front deck, a second place to listen.

    04

    A dedicated cinema

    The cinema is built around three high-performance Triad Gold front speakers, mounted and braced behind an acoustically transparent Dragonfly screen. A Powersoft Quattrocanali amplifier drives the front three channels.

    The 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos layout combines seven main channels, two subwoofers and four overhead channels, with Triad Silver subwoofers, surrounds and overhead speakers alongside the Gold front stage. Epson projection completes the picture.

    Scott from The Digital Picture was brought in for a day of specialist calibration, measuring and tuning the system with microphones, sweeps and test signals. The result was a marked improvement over the initial setup, with a room that sounded far more alive.

    Everything runs from the Control4 SR260 remote, chosen because it is easy to read and use in the dark.

    Home cinema with a large projection screen, lounge seating, ceiling speakers and dark curtains.
    The theatre, set up for film nights.

    05

    Leaving room for change

    Additional cabling was run to keep options open beyond the initial installation. Around the sheltered pool, an Origin Acoustics landscape speaker system brings music outdoors, and wiring is in place for a future surround-sound and motorised projection system, so it can be added later without opening walls.

    Illuminated sheltered pool with timber decking, planting and outdoor seating at dusk.
    The sheltered pool, with garden audio installed.

    Photography: Kollosche

    Every system at Michel Drive was planned around how the home would be used, from the first keypad location to the final cinema calibration.

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