This so-called ultimate ‘man cave’ is just like the Bat Cave, but with beer and billiards instead of crime fighters and super villains. Similar to it’s comic book counterpart, the man cave doesn’t disappoint when it comes to cars and technology.

Designed and installed by Smarthomes Chattanooga, the client had just purchased the home and wanted to finish out the basement by building the ultimate man’s retreat.

And so good was the installation that it won the Integrated Home Level I: $67,500 – $120,000 Level I Silver Technical Design title at the 2008 Electronic Lifestyles awards.

“We started in the basement with the home theatre, card room, billiard room, and a garage that doubled as a dance club and ended up installing a system throughout the entire house,” says owner Steve Nicola.

As most of the upper two floors had already been built and completed, a great deal of work was retrofit.

Steve says a major coup came when Smarthomes was able to complete the with little to no repair needed.

“We follow a formal process for all of our installations,” he says. “After a thorough discovery and design phase our project manager works closely with the builder and other industry partners to make sure everyone has the information they need.

“Our operations department completes the carious phases of the project and then checks and re-checks that nothing was missed and everything is up to our standards.

“Finally, we take extra time to carefully teach the client about the system and tweak any system programming.”

The AV system is the workhorse of the whole system. From the equipment rack to the rest of the house the client can access multiple different sources to watch/listen to in any room without stacks of equipment everywhere.

“Because we were controlling just about every system of the house, the control system had to be easy to use and robust. After completing the basic installation and programming we worked closely with the client to tailor the system for his specific needs.”

Steve says the client uses the home theatre just about every day. From watching TV and movies to using his Mini Mac and playing Guitar Hero with his buddies, the theatre has become a great source of entertainment.

“As for functionality, the client travels frequently so we programmed a vacation setting. On his way out he pushes a single button: the lights will adjust themselves to give a ‘lived in’ look, all the AV equipment goes into standby mode, the thermostats set back to conserve energy and the security system arms.

“In larger homes, it can be a real pain to adjust the lighting to fit a given lifestyle. This is where our Control 4 lighting system really shines. Using activity-based scenes, the client can push a single button and lights adjust to pre-programmed settings.

“Additionally, we always add chronological events that are triggered based on the time of day and the state of the security system.”

Founded in 2002, Smarthomes Chattanooga has grown to employ 10 full-time employees.

On winning the award for this project, Steve says, “Winning in such a competitive category is confirmation to me and my staff that we are designing and installing world class systems for our clients.”

The awards, which are considered the most prestigious in the $US6 billion ($A9.3 billion) industry, are presented annually in recognition of member companies that exemplify outstanding integration of systems and meet their clients’ home technology needs.

Two panels consisting of members from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and CEDIA, evaluated the winning entries and scored them on technical merit and design/aesthetics.