Smart home showcase: Walker House

This four-bedroom home in Bayview Heights, overlooking Morrisons Bay, in Sydney's north west, is a stunning example of what you can do when you mix architectural excellence with smart home technology ... and a few bucks in the bank.

The AU$10 million Walker House has it all: a secluded location, a swimming pool, a tennis court, superb design ... and some jaw-dropping high-tech integration.

Lighting throughout the house can be fully customised, to mood or create ambient conditions. There are 72 dimmed circuits and 64 integrated circuits, with 18 four-channel dimmer modules to accommodate four different kinds of bulbs, all installed by Australia's Smart Home Solutions.

While the house is positioned to take advantage of northern light, underfloor heating keeps it warm in cooler weather.

Three outdoor passive infrared sensors help maintain the property's privacy.

Crestron panels allow the home owner to control both indoor and outdoor lights, as well as the heating system, and also connects to outside cameras so you can see what's going on, without leaving the comfort of the indoors. "These meant we were able to avoid wall clutter, with lots of panels controlling different things," said Smart Home Solutions' James Billington.

Just as an aside, are we the only ones boggling over the fact that smart home control panels look so dreadfully low res?

It's important to maintain at least a semblance of quietude in a library ... which is why the flat-screen TV is discreetly concealed in a cabinet, on an Ultralift riser (inset).

The room also contains a DVD player, HD set-top box, CD player, VCR and Meridian DSP5000 digital loudspeakers.

Who doesn't want a cinema in their home? The Walker House theatre is downstairs, and soundproofed to conceal both movie noise and band practice.

Behind the 100-inch Screen Technics screen is a false wall concealing the KEF XQ5, XQ2c and PSW 2500 speakers. Tucked into the ceiling are two Sonance SRS 1 surround speakers.

The room also contains an Integra A/V receiver, Pioneer DVD recorder, Humax HD set-top box, JVC VCR and an InFocus Screen Play 5700 16:9 projector; all controlled via a Crestron ST1700 touch-panel remote.

The gym, which looks out onto the garden and tennis courts, also has a TV — an NEC 42-inch plasma monitor on an Ultralift swivel mount. Music can be piped through Krix Atmospherix 5-inch ceiling speakers, and a waterproof Crestron RF remote lets you control what's playing from the comfort of the weight bench.

Music distribution is handled from one location; a rack tucked away, out of sight. It houses an eight-zone Crestron distribution unit and eight-zone amplifier, an Imerge music server, Onkyo six-disc carousel and Nuvo dual AM/FM tuner.

You'll also find the gateway here for the Crestron ST1700 remote.