Designing with a smart home in mind, Domotics design tips, Modern property tech

Domotics Design: Tips for Designing with a Smart Home in Mind

27 November 2024

After a decade of relatively slow adoption, smart homes seem to be on the rise. The technology behind them is becoming more affordable for the average person, already finding its way into households via smart TVs or speakers. If this trend continues and home automation becomes the norm, architects should keep these tips in mind for future designs.

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Design Around Hubs

Traditionally, households kept a living room for taking visitors and otherwise lounging around. The TV made this room even more important when there was one TV in the house. Then TVs became cheaper and smartphones found their way into our pockets, so these rooms became less important. However, smart homes are bringing this back through hubs that sit in, often, the living room.

Right now, most smart homes revolve around a smart TV that can connect to mobile devices when needed. They can also pull entertainment from both terrestrial programming and the internet, through streaming platforms or by browsing websites online. Using those services, residents can watch videos or play online slots for real money, alongside other interactive games inspired by slots or other casino games. Digital entertainment is an ever-growing field that will make smart connectivity more desirable in the future, for TVs, mobiles and other computer devices that can benefit from the Internet of Things (IoT).

While smart TVs may be a good start, most ecosystems require a bespoke hub device placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. These hubs tend to work best when positioned in the middle of the premises, away from windows and raised off the ground. Architects should consider this if designing front rooms, adjoined kitchens and open living spaces. For example, kitchen islands are a popular place to put one of these hubs, when adjoined to the front room and the rest of the house through an open plan.

Hold Back on Sockets and Switches

When drawing walls and collaborating with electrical engineers, architects should also remember that smart homes rely on wireless interconnectivity. Every household still needs its plug sockets, just not as many as older builds. Rooms that will house heavier, power-hungry appliances and complex electronic equipment should have the lion’s share of sockets. By cutting down on sockets, planners can cut down on wiring costs before construction has even started. It’s one of the many benefits of building a smart home, which we have covered in the past.

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Likewise, if there’s a smart lighting system installed, architects can do away with light switches or replace them with a smart alternative. Besides installing a courtesy switch near the entrance, modern and future smart homes have very little need for multiple switches in every room. Instead, smart lighting centralises control in the smart home hub, which is then connected to the owner’s smartphone. This allows the owner to turn lights on and off at the tap of a touchscreen.

Figure Out Compatibility Early

If you’re in charge of which smart home protocol is being used, it’s best to stick to one protocol and not mix them too much. These standards – Zigbee, Thread, Z-Wave – dictate which devices can connect with one another. Others are proprietary, like Apple’s HomeKit framework. Many smart homeowners use multiple standards at once for different devices, but this reduces cohesion and takes more effort in day-to-day management.

By figuring out compatibility in the planning stage, architects can design a home around a suite of products that will work together seamlessly. In the future, the smart home space will likely develop widespread interoperability that allows protocols to work together. This is already happening under Google/Android’s generous compatibility features for smart products, while other protocols are built for interoperability.

If interoperability becomes the norm, then compatibility will become less of a concern. Until then, everyone involved with smart home construction and design should keep these tips in mind.

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