Investment
New construction coordination extends timelines significantly. Smart home infrastructure, AV, and custom built-ins all require early engagement before finish work begins.
In Detail
Smart home integration is not an optional add-on at this scope — it is a primary system designed from the first meeting. All subsystems (lighting, climate, entertainment, security, network) are specified under one coherent architecture rather than assembled by separate vendors after the fact. This is the difference between a home that responds to the people in it and one that requires management.
What's Included
Overview: Everything in Home Upgrade plus: outdoor gardens and terraces, home gym installation, home theater and media rooms, security system design, smart home as a primary integrated system — not an add-on. Typically delivered in new high-end properties or complete design refreshes that treat systems integration as a core design objective.
Scope Details:
- Everything in Home Upgrade
- Smart home design and integration as primary system infrastructure: lighting controls (Lutron), climate management, security, entertainment, automated shading
- Home theater and media room design: acoustic treatment, projection or display specification, seating, lighting control integration
- Home gym installation: equipment selection and placement, flooring, lighting, mirror specification, ventilation
- Outdoor garden and terrace design: furniture specification, planting, lighting, irrigation, outdoor kitchen or bar
- Security system design: access control, surveillance, integration with smart home backbone
- AV system design: distributed audio, video, control systems throughout
- Custom millwork: bespoke bookcases, bar areas, entertainment built-ins, home office integration
The Process
Process Methodology
- Smart Home Infrastructure: Smart home at this tier is infrastructure, not a product. It is designed as a system before walls close, not added after the fact. The correct sequence: smart home scope confirmed at schematic phase, rough-in during construction, programming and commissioning at handover. Retrofitting a smart home into a finished apartment costs three times as much and delivers half the capability.
- New Construction Coordination: Home Improvement is most often delivered in new construction or new acquisitions where the client is starting from scratch. In this context, we engage with the developer's team, the AV contractor, and the general contractor before design begins to map the coordination requirements.
- Systems As Design: Every system in a Home Improvement project — lighting, shading, climate, security, entertainment — is designed as part of the architecture of the home. The control interface is a design decision as much as the hardware.
Process Phases
Ideal For
The Client
A client who has purchased a new construction property or is undertaking a complete refresh and wants the full contemporary living experience: integrated systems, outdoor living, home theater, home gym. Clients moving from pre-war co-ops to new construction buildings often discover they can do here what was impossible in their previous building.
Active Neighborhoods: Hudson Yards, Financial District, Fulton/Seaport, NoMad, Tribeca, West Village, Chelsea
Not A Fit If
If you are in a pre-war co-op with HVAC restrictions and limited smart home infrastructure, Home Upgrade is the appropriate scope. Home Improvement requires a building that supports the infrastructure.
Tier Evolution
Home Improvement clients who want to reconfigure structural elements — open up the kitchen to the living room, expand the primary suite — move into Home Renovation territory.
Building Requirements
Applicable Architecture
Most active in new construction glass towers (Hudson Yards, Financial District, NoMad) where buildings are pre-wired for smart home integration. Also active in townhouses where full-building system integration is viable. Less common in pre-war co-ops where HVAC and smart home infrastructure face board restrictions.