There’s no question that outdoor entertaining is trending. Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic played a part in society’s obsession with the Great Outdoors but technology providers like Snap One are turning those dreams, concepts, and ideas of backyard fun into reality. Fully stocked with all the technology a homeowner could ask for in a backyard upgrade, they’ve become a go-to resource for home tech pros worldwide, including Acadian Home Theater & Automation in Baton Rouge.
The design and integration team at Acadian Home Theater & Automation had relied on Snap One products to automate the insides of dozens of high-end homes. Increasingly, requests for technology had spread to outdoor areas—and not just for a simple set of speakers for the back deck.
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“Our outdoor projects have now grown from a basic level of audio into higher-end audio and video, motorized screens, Wi-Fi access, surveillance cameras… the works,” said Bryan Naquin, owner of Acadian Home Theater & Automation. A prime example is a massive Snap One project involving the integration of a huge assortment of Snap One products over 30,000 square feet of outdoor area. Acadian Home Theater & Automation outfitted the entire landscape, as well as a party pavilion, boat house, and guest house with all the bells and whistles.
Their mission, per the homeowner, was to blanket the property with music (“no dead zones, please”) and make the outdoor areas just as easy to manage, use, and enjoy as the systems inside their home. Over the course of a 10-week “discovery process,” Naquin and his team were able to pinpoint exactly what they needed to deliver exactly what the homeowner wanted. Like a one-stop shop, Snap One checked off all the boxes, making what could have been a very complex endeavor faster and easier for Acadian Home Theater & Automation to pull off.
As they do with all their outdoor audio projects, Acadian aimed for full, even coverage for this massive outdoor property. The owners would be able to hear music at a consistent volume level without a single dead zone. Naquin had experienced this ear-pleasing effect at Disney World years ago, noting the generous number of speakers throughout the park every 60 or 70 feet, and he figured that if it worked for Disney, it could work for his residential clients — especially those with high expectations for their exterior audio. The owners of the Antebellum-style mansion and outdoor compound certainly qualified. Dozens of Episode landscape speakers blanket the landscape, with surface- and ceiling-mounted models accoutering balconies and covered patios.
“There are millions of different speaker options, so choosing the right manufacturer that stands behind their products is so important, especially when dealing with the vagaries of an outdoor environment,” Naquin said. “Snap One’s level of service and support is bar-none, making them the best choice for this project.”
Snap One was also chosen for other aspects of the 30-month-long project, which includes custom Control4 processors to automate a wide assortment of exterior and fountain lights, SunBrite weather-hardy TVs that raise and lower on motorized lifts from Nexus21, Araknis outdoor Wi-Fi access points, roughly 50 Luma surveillance cameras, and Control4 processors.
Motorized screens provide protection from the sun and insects, forming a comfortable, enclosed area at the party pavilion for entertaining. Even the entrance to the property is supervised via the Control4 system. Although the sheer number of devices under the aegis of Control4 is vast, managing them is a breeze for the owners. They simply access the Control4 app on their mobile devices to cue music, move TVs into place, view real-time footage on surveillance cameras, open the gate, and turn on and off lighting. The outdoor Wi-Fi network ensures commands reach their intended destinations without a snag, bringing the entire backyard and beyond to their beck and call.
Soon, the owners may be using their voices to instruct the technology inside and outside their estate home. “That’s another reason why we like Control4 and Snap One so much,” Naquin noted. “They are always evolving and upgrading their products, which keeps our clients’ systems fresh and relevant.” Still, Naquin and his team carefully analyze the benefits of every new piece of technology before introducing them as options to clients. “We only add features if they add real value and enrichment to the customer’s lifestyle,” Naquin explained.
