New build

The Courtyard House

A considered family home. A quieter kind of technology.

Illustrative design story — a proposed solution, not a completed client project.

A courtyard home with oak, limestone and a mother and daughter reading beyond a linen sofa.

The brief

A home planned around family life.

The brief is a generous shared living space around a planted courtyard: a place for homework, conversation and slow afternoons. Technology should support those moments without adding visible equipment or a complicated routine.

This design direction places the integration work early in the design. BOE-AV would coordinate speaker positions, cable routes, curtain pockets and control locations with the architect and interior team before ceilings and joinery are finished.

Proposed integration

Invisible sound across the living and dining areas
Lighting scenes matched to daily routines
Discreet motorised shading with manual control
Coordinated wiring, commissioning and family handover

Music, without the visual noise

The proposed sound system sits beneath the finished ceiling. Speaker placement would follow the seating and dining areas, with the final system selected and tuned for the room. The result is intended to feel generous at a comfortable listening level, without freestanding speakers competing with the interior.

Behind the finish

One touch, a familiar routine

A small metal control sits beside the doorway, where a hand naturally reaches. A family could choose an evening scene that softens the architectural lighting and adjusts the curtains, while keeping straightforward control of each function. The curtain drive and wiring remain concealed; the finish stays calm.

A small unlit four-field bronze control beside an oak door, with plaster walls and a concealed curtain recess.

A family sharing an afternoon in the courtyard kitchen as a father pours coffee.

Designed around time together

Coffee at the counter, a book on the table and music in the background: these ordinary moments guide the design. Controls would be set up around the family’s habits, with simple everyday choices and space to change them later.

What it makes possible

Less to manage. More to enjoy.

A home that can move from a busy afternoon to a relaxed evening without making its owners think about the systems behind it.

Beyond the first day

Made to be lived with.

The proposed handover includes listening and lighting adjustments with the family, a clear introduction to everyday controls, and an agreed route for ongoing support.

Care beyond handover

Another perspective