Wiltshire

lighting control, motorised shading, climate control, networking, security

May 2024

Living room in the glass wing with floor-to-ceiling glazing, a flint wall and views over the water meadows

Credits

Architect - Spratley & Partners

Interior Designer - Helen Smith

Builder - DTM Interiors

Landscape Design - Andy Sturgeon

Overview

An old mill on a Wiltshire river, carefully renovated, with a brand new wing beside it that is almost entirely glass. The mill race still runs beneath the house, and the views from the new wing reach across the water meadows in every direction. The brief was to make a very old building and a very modern one feel like a single home, with technology that never competes with the view.

With so much glass, shading was the first consideration. Motorised Lutron blinds are concealed throughout the house, disappearing into the ceilings of the new wing when they are not needed and bringing shade and privacy when they are. Lighting and shading are controlled together by Lutron HomeWorks, so a single touch sets a room for the time of day.

Heating and air conditioning are integrated with hidden temperature sensors, so there is nothing on the walls, and everything is controlled simply through Control4. A Ubiquiti UniFi network reaches every corner of the property, and an Avigilon camera system watches over the grounds from custom-made poles designed to blend into their surroundings.

The result is a home where the technology is felt rather than seen: a restored mill, a glass pavilion, a river running beneath, and nothing between the family and the landscape. The house was a finalist in the British Homes Awards 2024.

The old mill house and its new glass wing seen across the river on a spring day

A centuries-old mill and a new glass wing, brought together as one home where the technology is felt rather than seen.

Double-height hall with a grand piano against a flint wall, sunlight falling across it, and the dining room beyond

Stone and Light

Flint, glass and sunlight in the hall, with the technology kept out of sight.

The mill race flowing beneath the glass wing, seen through its glazed corner

The River Below

The mill race still runs beneath the house, seen through the glass at your feet.

Double-height entrance hall with a flint wall, lantern pendant and the front door open to the garden

A Quiet Welcome

Lighting, security and the network all at work, with nothing to see but the view.

Bedroom in the glass wing with glazing on two sides and blinds concealed in the ceiling

Shading Without a Trace

In the glass wing every elevation is glazed from floor to ceiling, so the blinds had to be invisible when raised. Each one sits in a slot in the ceiling, detailed with the builder before the ceilings went in, and drops silently into place at the touch of a keypad.

Lighting and shading are scenes on the same Lutron keypads, so one press lowers the blinds as it dims the lights for the evening, and another raises them to the view in the morning. The temperature is looked after in the same quiet way, with the sensors hidden and the heating and cooling set from Control4.

Outside, the Avigilon cameras keep watch from poles made specially for the house, finished to blend into the trees and the riverbank, while the UniFi network carries everything, from the gate to the far side of the grounds.