The Brief
The brief was simple – update and refresh the system where possible, ensuring it met the clients immediate needs, and gain a full and complete understanding of the cabling and systems in place with a view to documenting the entire installation and providing ongoing support moving forward. Essentially we were retained by the client to get a grip on the system and renew their confidence in it.
An unusual project for us to enter the CEDIA awards 2021 with, but one we felt demonstrated how we were not only able to design and install brand new award winning systems in new properties, but also assist clients who had been disappointed by a previous experience in an existing house.
As this was an existing, decorated and completed property, there was no opportunity to run new cabling, and the client wanted to retain each rooms aesthetic. The challenge was therefore to completely update the underlying systems and equipment to provide the day to day functionality required, with reliable and intuitive operation.
The SONA Process
We achieved this by taking control of the fundamental infrastructure – providing a fully managed, high performance network to support all devices, and then systemically looking at the audio video elements of the existing system, and developing a solution where we essentially left all in room equipment that was on show in place, but upgrading televisions to equivalent sized up-to-date models, upgrading local surround receivers to the latest technology, using a de-centralised video approach, and replacing the dated audio system.
This entire process was made particularly challenging as plans to carry out the works whilst the family were away were ultimately not possible due to lockdown restrictions. The whole installation, from start to finish was therefore carried out with the family living in the home, with the client extremely busy on video calls every day and for most of the day, and mock examinations being taken by the client’s children requiring internet connections.
The SONA Team are used to working with conditions such as this, so took it in their stride, always keeping the client up to date, and liaising with them regularly to set and manage expectations to minimise disruption and frustration. The result is now a fully integrated home that meets the client brief, but also has accounted for the family that live there. Their likes and dislikes, sensory preferences, daily routines and rhythm of their week. The client now feels the enhanced luxury that a SONA system brings to the home, and feels reassured that the system is being remotely monitored 24-7. The confidence that is given knowing that you call one reliable and supportive company, should you ever have a problem, who can offer practical support is now an added benefit, that the client perhaps hadn’t appreciated they were missing before.