Vision on

Forty-five apartments in a Victorian restoration in Dunfermline, Fife are being marketed with a level of technology that to date has been the preserve of the wealthy individual or the occasional demonstration project like Integer’s Dream House. St Leonards Hill Apartments is one of the first developments in the UK to offer multi room sound systems, home cinema and computer controlled lighting, albeit as optional extras. Yet these are not million pound penthouses; the homes designed by architect Gilbert Associates are selling at prices ranging from £100 000 up to £250 000.

Hank Duncan, who heads up Dunfermline-based developer ARE Builders, is adamant that his investment in St Leonards Hill Apartments will pay off. Every apartment comes pre-wired with structured cabling for every conceivable use, but the basic price does not include any of the hi-tech goodies - these are negotiated separately on an individual basis. However, the three show apartments have been kitted out with Linn multi-room sound systems and Lutron’s Graffik Eye lighting control modules. In addition, the show apartment pictured has a £15 000 home cinema.

The images above show how the living room is transformed from a conventional dayroom into a home cinema. Hit PLAY on the Philips Pronto remote controller and the Silent Gliss blinds slide up over the rooflights while the screen descends from the housing mounted on the ceiling and the lights dim. The screen is driven off a projector at the back of the room and this can show any video signal from TV, video recorder, DVD or even games console, while the sound comes through both ceiling mounted and floor standing speakers.

The new technology has been installed by Glasgow-based SG Systems. SG’s Calum Stewart explains: “Scotland is normally two or three years behind the London market and basic structured cabling is still in its infancy. But the St Leonards Hill developer saw what structured cabling could deliver and decided to go for it in a big way.”

Apartments at St Leonards Hill have been on sale since November and signs are that buyers - mostly young Edinburgh commuters - are opting for at least some of the possible toys, spurred on by the expectation of obtaining the built-in equipment VAT free. Every room has at least four outlets for the CAT 5 and CT 100 cabling and this offers the potential of ISDN internet connection, video entry control, TV and radio distributed around the house and a Linn audio system with ceiling speakers. Marketing is also cutting edge: a web site at www.st-leonards-hill.co.uk offers 3D room views and a virtual reality tour of the show apartments.