An installation in paradise
In 1979, softly-spoken billionaire Sir Richard Branson – the owner of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines and approximately 400 other companies in the Virgin Group – became aware of an uninhabited island in the British Virgin Islands.
The island, named after the 17th century Dutch squadron commander Johannes de Neckere, was owned by Lord Cobham (a member of the British House of Lords) and was overrun by snakes, scorpions, mosquitoes and tarantulas.
Sir Richard, however, saw a potential getaway destination for the artists he had signed to his record label. So he purchased the 74-acre Necker Island for the low sum of £180,000 ($A267,000). He was just 28.
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These days, the main residence on Necker Island consists of three rooms (or rather three small buildings): a bedroom, kitchen and living/entertaining space called the Temple Room, with adjoining spa and swimming pool.
Sir Richard can watch the sun rise over the Atlantic and the sun set into the Caribbean from the Temple Room. Though roofed, the space is open to sea breezes and provides almost 360-degree views of the island.
He also has access to the latest in residential technologies, thanks to an installation recently completed by local integration firm Think Simple.
Rusty Henderson was in charge of the project. He says the main objectives of the job were to ensure the system would be simple to use and not impinge on the island views.
“We started working on Necker Island about 10 years ago when they asked us SHOWCASE Paradise on Earth May 2012 – CONNECTED HOME 25 to provide a video system for the existing buildings on the island,” he says.
“We were then invited to support their telephone and data networks and over the years we have become established as one of their preferred and reliable contractors.
“On 3 March 2009, I received an email asking us to review the AV, data and communications systems for a new addition on the island. We had several meetings to discuss the details and we quickly turned around our design and engineering so we could get our conduits and recessed boxes in the correct location.”
Each room required a TV, Kaleidescape movie system, satellite TV access and ambient music. Further, each area needed to be controlled by a Crestron control system that was “so simple that it should be obvious how to use it with no instruction.”
“They left a lot of the details down to us, but they had a very clear idea of what they wanted,” Rusty says. “A crucial part of the brief was to make sure the installation was elegant and harmonious with the surroundings. At the same time it needed to work flawlessly, so we included power protection and fibre optics to avoid damage from lightning storms that pass through on occasion.
“We tried to get them to add a few features that we thought they would appreciate, like a louder sound system and lighting control, but we couldn’t get them approved. The project was very well managed and deviations from the original brief were hard to influence.”
Though Necker Island’s entertainment systems are simple to use, making them work was anything but.
“The Caribbean environment is very harsh. The island’s salty air is highly corrosive, so exposed surfaces and all connections had to be marinised, a process where a barrier material is applied to keep the salt air out.
“We have a lot of experience in this environment. Some of us have yachting backgrounds and we considered this a marine installation.
“We specified components that would be exceptionally reliable in the marine air. The subwoofers are completely sealed and could be buried underground. The smaller speakers are weatherproof and made from Teak to match the interior and provide a beautiful hardwood finish. The Temple House has a Sunbrite 55” 1080p TV that is fully protected from the elements. All of the electronics in each zone are housed in a rack that is sealed inside a protected cabinet. There are active fans that dispel the air to keep the components cool. We used stainless steel screws everywhere and regularly check for any signs of corrosion.”
The second problem was absorbing power variations and possible power interruptions. Necker Island produces its own electricity through two large generators. When power is switched from one source to another, or if the generators have any problem, the resulting sags, spikes and surges can have a very damaging effect on electronics.
“The quality is mostly good but occasionally they will have fluctuations that would be catastrophic to electronic components,” Rusty says.
For that reason, Think Simple deployed a series of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), which use batteries to filter the power and make sure it’s perfectly consistent. These intelligent devices are also able to shut down when not in use, reducing power consumption and utility costs.
The biggest challenge, however, came in the form of lightning, which is a recognised danger in the Caribbean.
“We recognise lightning as a danger to electronics that are connected via copper in the ground,” he says.
“The energy that surges through the air or ground from a lightning strike is absorbed through induction by any copper or metal nearby. This installation was a long way away from the central IT building so the only way to minimise damage to the communication hardware was to use fibre optics to deliver all the voice and data. The additional performance benefits of fibre are also hard to ignore.”
The key to Sir Richard’s entertainment system is the use of a control system from Crestron. Think Simple installed two Crestron control processors and tied them into a movie player, DVD player, two LED displays (one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen), a multi-zone sound system with three iPod docks and a 55” SunBrite weather-proof TV for the Temple Room.
Sir Richard can choose a movie or TV station, queue up music from his iPod or play a DVD. He also has internet connections in each living area. The movie player stores his entire movie collection in a single device, with a very easy-to-use interface accessed through the Crestron processor.
Think Simple also installed Crestron Cameo keypads in each room as an alternative, in-wall control for the music system.
“Making a Crestron system easy to use is all about the programming,” Rusty says.
“We had read about Sir Richard’s dyslexia so we made sure the logic would be incredibly simple. We have an amazing programmer on our team and as usual, he made the controls completely intuitive.”
According to Rusty, logistics were the major issue on this installation, but mainly because they were very unlucky with the weather.
“We had a very tight deadline so we had to install all of the Temple House electronics, which is a wide open space, in wind speeds of 25 knots and driving rain. This lasted for several days. We used scaffolding and tarpaulins to keep areas dry. Sometimes we had electronics completely exposed while we soldered on connectors but the coverings were just enough to keep everything protected.
“We also had to come and go to the island on a rented powerboat. Navigating the reefs at midnight in these conditions was certainly a challenge. Luckily, several of us had several years’ experience behind the helm and we know the area so that kept us from running aground.”
Ultimately the job took an eight-man crew 28 days to install all the wiring and components, travelling from a temporary base on the nearby island of Virgin Gorda.
“There’s no Radio Shack for hundreds of miles, so we had to take everything with us. We literally took our entire inventory of tools and parts to the island in over 40 crates. Combined with the equipment, we filled an entire container with our gear for this relatively small installation. Keeping track of all the tools was also a challenge as we had three teams of guys working in the different areas.”
In the end, Sir Richard appreciated the effort. His short but sweet comment, “This is absurdly good!”
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