Surrey Homes | SH46 | August 2018 | Wedding supplement inside

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THE ART OF CREATING A STYLISH,
YET SIMPLE SMART HOME
Charlie McCourt, Co-Founder
and Director at Equippd, chats
about changing perceptions on
home technology and the art of
creating a beautiful, yet simple
smart home
Underlying Equippd’s
design philosophy is
the simple idea that
technology is a tool
that should be both invisible
and enhance how you and your
family live your lives. You should
not be expected to read several
instruction books and memorize
which keys on which remote to
point at what device when you
want to watch a film on Netflix.
You should also not have to look
at a collection of black boxes and
cords that are arranged on tables
or crammed behind the doors of
an entertainment centre just so
that you can watch a Blu-ray OR
listen to music in the same room.
No, with proper design all the
technology in a smart home
should disappear but be ready
to work for you with little if any
effort on your part. For example,
we design systems where, by
simply saying the words “Watch
Netflix”, the television almost
magically appears from the ceiling,
a side table, a bed’s footboard, or
from behind a painting, the room
lights dim, the curtains close,
and Netflix starts – it is simple
technology taken to the next level.
But our homes are not like
this, today, our smartphones
are packed full with various
different apps, each of which
can control a separate part of
your home, and comes with its
own user-interface, login and
password. This doesn’t lead to a
very simple-to-use experience,
no, in fact we think this ‘appecosystem’
is the modern-day
equivalent to having 5 different
remote controls to turn on your
TV, not particularly smart at all.
We see smart as something more
personal, and so on every project
prioritise getting to know you,
the homeowner, so that we can
design and program your smart
home to not only compliment
your lifestyle, but enhance it.
By collaborating with various
build-professionals; architects,
electricians, plumbers, interior
designers and cabinet makers,
to name a couple, we make sure
that every system, product and
process in your home is purpose
designed to work together, look
beautiful and be simple to use. So
whether it’s your heating system
checking the weather conditions
outside, and adjusting the inside
temperature accordingly, or your
security system that knows when
you have forgotten to set the
alarm, and lets you know that it
has done it for you, your home can
become a space that knows your
needs and can respond to them.
Here at Equippd, we love
technology and are passionate
about it, we believe that it really
can change how you live your
life, but needs to be thoughtout,
considered and personal
to you. Our job is to use our
passion to deliver world-class
solutions by remembering that
the key word in the term “smart
home” is of course, home.