19-CEDIA Awards 2008 Architecture awards ceremony News 150508

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AND THE WINNERS ARE…

The winners of the CEDIA Awards 2008 were announced at a glittering ceremony on Friday 9 May, which took place at Vinopolis, London.

For the first time since they began, the CEDIA Awards for CEDIA Region 1 were held separately to CEDIA Expo in order to give them a dedicated focus and a higher profile. Suzi Perry, from Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, presented the Awards.

In total 250 people attended the black tie event, which had a Moroccan theme. More members than ever before entered this year’s Awards, with installers from across the region participating, including those from Portugal, Spain and France.

In order to maintain the integrity of the Awards, this year’s judging was conducted on an anonymous basis and, for the first time since they began, the judges decided to award highly commended accolades to some of the entrants, in recognition of the quality of their submissions.

Amongst the winners were some great examples of impressive installs including French company, Dark Side of the Room, who won with their ‘Home Cinema Lyon’ project in the Best home cinema installation from £20K-£100K. This was a cinema which the judges believed would offer an unrivalled viewing experience.

Best integrated home under £100K was also a very popular category, which was reflected in the higher than average number of finalists, making it especially hard to judge. But, worthy winners were Smartcomm for the aesthetically-stunning ‘Darlands’ install.

Whilst it was a house that’s quite literally to die for (it’s located in a cemetery) that won over the judges in the Best integrated home over £250,000 category, with the award going to SMC for their incredible ‘Cemetery House’ install.

The Best dressed installation category took a look behind the scenes to find the install that had been done the most carefully; particular attention was paid to the racking and cabling, but the judges were also looking for neatly installed projectors, screens and other equipment. For this reason, T&T Communications took the prize for the ‘Danish House’ and a rack that even the homeowner described as a ‘work of art’.

Simon Williams, Chairman of CEDIA Region 1, says. “The Awards evening was a complete success, this was the first time we’d done anything like this and it really worked. We’re completely thrilled to be part of such an exciting event which reflects the industry. Everyone enjoyed themselves and it gave the CEDIA Awards the gravitas which we believe they deserve. A big well done and thank you to everyone who entered, and if you missed out – don’t worry, there will always be next year!”

The full list of winners, highly commended entries and finalists is:

Best home cinema installation project under £20K (35,000 Euros)
Winner: Finite Solutions, Total Automation Cinema
Finalists: Beyond the Invisible, Lavender Gardens
D&T Electronics, Cambridge Park
Doneo, Magnum Home Cinema
ISIS Integrated Systems, Lancaster Gate

Best home cinema installation from £20K-£100K (35,000-150,000 Euros)
Winner: Dark Side of the Room, Home Cinema Lyon
Highly commended: Laservision, Karaoke Home Cinema
Finalists: Finite Solutions, Rise & Fall Cinema
Grahams HiFi, The Diamond Cinema
T&T Communications, Lake View

Best integrated home under £100K (150,000 Euros)
Winner; Smartcomm, Darlands
Highly commended; James & Giles, Clerkenwell
Finalists; Audire, Champs Elysees
Definitions, Northern Lights
D&T Electronics, London Apartment P
DSE Group, Low Fell Install
SMC, Wimbledon Family Home

Best integrated home from £100,000 - £250,000 (150,000 – 370,000 Euros)
Winner: Henri Integrateur Domotique, Maison Bovard
Highly commended: Finite Solutions, The Old Water Treatment Works
Finalists: D&T Electronics, Chandos Street
Grahams HiFi, The New House
ISIS Integrated Systems, Cadogan Square

Best integrated home over £250,000 (370,000 Euros)
Winner: SMC, Cemetery House
Highly commended; Global Technologies, Villa Quinta Verde
Finalists: Lairdking, Aston Martin
Martin Kleiser, Wiltshire Hall
SMC, Hill House

Best dressed installation
Winner: T&T Communications, Danish House
Finalists: D&T Electronics, London Apartment P
D&T Electronics, Cambridge Park
SMC, Hill House

Best marine installation
Winner: Dawsons AV Marine, Sunseeker 37m Tri-Deck
Finalist: Audio Vision, The Maltese Falcon

Best multi dwelling
Winner: Touch of a Button, White Fir
Finalists: D&T Electronics, Spinningfields
Hometech Integration, Tanalach

Best special project
Winner: Digital Homedia, New Riverhead
Finalist: Interconnection, The Old Rectory Study Lift

Alongside these project winners, a CEDIA award was also presented to the Best Trade Supplier – a category decided via an online vote of Electronic Systems Professional (ESP) members hosted on the CEDIA website. Voters were asked to select the company who has provided the best quality products, services and support throughout the year. This year, the accolade went to internationally renowned speaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins.

Established to recognise and reward high quality system design, installation and integration, the CEDIA Awards help to set the standard for CEDIA ESP members across CEDIA Region 1.

The judges were looking for outstanding design and integration within all the categories, and the competition was incredibly tough. As well as the need to be integrated and beautifully concealed with the interior, important factors included imaginative and appropriate design and use of technology, safe and tidy racks as well as a bit of ‘wow’ factor.

Chaired by CEDIA Chairman, Simon Williams, the judging panel comprised of interior designer Dean Keyworth from Armstrong Keyworth; Kate Burnett, Editor of leading interior design magazine idFX; Jan Carlos Kucharek from the RIBA Journal, Dave Mitchell, Technical Director of the HBF (Home Builders Federation), and a trio of respected technology journalists - Chris Price, Dave Murphy and Dan Goldstein. In addition, they were joined remotely by Utz Baldwin, the current CEDIA US President, from AD Systems in the USA.

Email: matt@cedia.co.uk