Key Biscayne Oceanfront Residence

A modern coastal residence, fully integrated

Set on a high floor of an oceanfront tower on Key Biscayne, this residence began as a complete tear-down and rebuild remodel led by RP Design. We were brought in at the start of the design process, before construction plans were finalized and before any lighting decisions have been taken. That timing matters. It's the difference between technology that's been planned around the architecture and technology that has to be retrofitted into spaces that weren't built to receive it.

The brief from the homeowner was direct: integrate every system the home could reasonably support, and make all of it easier to use than anything he'd lived with before. RP Design's vision for the space was equally clear, modern coastal, restrained, with finishes and lines that didn't tolerate visible compromise. Both objectives pointed to the same approach. Design the technology to disappear into the architecture. Engineer it to behave consistently across every room. And build the back end so that years from now, it still works the way it did on day one.

Technology design and implementation

The home runs on a centralized Crestron systems integration platform built around a Crestron Home processor. Every subsystem in the residence answers to it. Lighting, motorized shading, distributed audio, video, climate, security, and the network all live on a single managed infrastructure with one user interface. The homeowner doesn't think about which app to open. He picks up a remote in the bedroom, taps a touchscreen in the kitchen, or presses a Crestron Horizon keypad in any room, and the home responds the same way every time.

Our team handled the full lighting design and controls for the residence, working alongside RP Design to plan every fixture, dimming zone, and scene from the ground up. The entire home runs on a Crestron centralized lighting system, with all the dimmer modules housed in the equipment closet and clean low-voltage Crestron Horizon keypads on the walls. That centralized approach is what gives RP Design the architectural clarity she wanted, no banks of dimmer plates anywhere in the home, just a single elegant keypad in each space. Occupancy sensors and the system's internal astronomical clock automate much of the daily lighting behavior. Lights warm in the morning, dim toward evening, respond to motion in bathrooms and closets, and follow scenes the homeowner sets once and never has to think about again.

In the Living Room and Family Room, where RP Design wanted clean ceiling lines and uninterrupted views to the terraces, the technology is almost entirely hidden. Sonance in-wall speakers and Sonance sound bars deliver a full-range listening experience below the 85-inch Samsung displays, perfectly width-matched so the audio reads as part of the screen rather than an addition. Sonance in-wall subwoofers handle the low end without taking up floor space. Crestron coupled motorized shades drop from recessed pockets in the ceiling. A single Horizon keypad sets every scene in each room, and the same scenes can be triggered from the 10-inch Crestron touchscreens located at the entry hall and kitchen.

The Kitchen and Dining Room continue the same approach but with a slightly different audio profile. Sonance in-ceiling speakers fill both rooms with even, warm sound that doesn't compete with conversation. A Samsung TV is recessed flush into the kitchen wall, controlled from the nearby touchscreen. Two black Crestron Horizon keypads on the kitchen island handle lighting and shade scenes for both spaces. RP Design specified the keypad finish to match the cabinetry hardware exactly.

The Master Suite was designed as a sanctuary, and the technology had to behave that way. A coupled dual-shade system manages both blackout and sheer layers from the same wall keypad or bedside Crestron handheld remote, so the homeowner never has to leave the bed to adjust the room. Climate is controlled through a Crestron thermostat that ties directly into the broader system, allowing wake-up and sleep scenes to coordinate temperature, lighting, and shading together. A 65-inch Samsung display is fed through the home's Crestron NVX video distribution matrix, meaning any source in the equipment room, cable, streaming, or AppleTV, plays on this screen without local hardware cluttering the bedroom.

Both guest bedrooms, were built with the same level of integration as the master. Each room has its own dual motorized shade pair, dedicated Crestron lighting control, a 55-inch Samsung TV on the NVX matrix, Sonance in-ceiling audio, and a Ruckus wireless access point to ensure full WiFi coverage. The kids get the same experience their father does, just sized for their rooms.

Throughout the home, distributed audio is anchored by a Sonance Sonamp DSP 2-150 amplifier and two Sonos Port streamers in the equipment room, giving the homeowner the ability to play different music in every zone or sync the entire residence for entertaining. Two Sonos Move 2 portable speakers extend audio to the terraces when the homeowner wants to take the music outside without permanent fixtures.

The lobby, hallways, and powder room are tied into the same lighting and shade system through Horizon keypads, completing the unified experience across every space in the home.

Security, networking, and the equipment room

The residence is protected by a full security and video surveillance system built on Axis M3086-V cameras covering the lobby, living room, family room, master closet, laundry, and entry. A Ring Video Doorbell Pro and Crestron-integrated CLK-YL smart locks on both entry doors give the homeowner remote visibility and access control from anywhere. A FloLogic FLS0035 water shutoff valve, integrated into the Crestron system, will detect a leak anywhere in the residence and shut off the main water supply automatically, an essential safeguard in a high-rise condo where a leak doesn't just affect one home.

The home's network and WiFi infrastructure runs on a Cisco backbone and a 50-port managed Cisco SG220-50P PoE switch, with four Ruckus Wireless access points distributed through the residence to give every room reliable, fast WiFi coverage. Crestron managed switches handle the control system network traffic and the NVX routing. Two WattBox UPS units protect the entire equipment rack from power events, and the rack itself is climate-controlled with an Infinity Cloudline ventilation system to keep equipment running cool around the clock.

The equipment room is the part of the project no one sees, but it's where reliability is built. A Crestron processor at the heart, two Denon receivers for theater-grade processing of living room and family room audio, a Crestron audio matrix, the NVX encoders feeding all the in-room NVX decoders, Crestron CLX-2DIMU8 dimmer modules driving the centralized lighting, and Middle Atlantic rack hardware throughout. Every device has a documented IP address. Every cable is labeled. Every rack position was planned during design, not improvised during install.

The result

For RP Design, the measure was a residence that looks exactly as designed, with no visible technology compromising the architectural intent. For the homeowner, the measure was a system he and his family actually enjoy using, every day, without thinking about it. Both objectives were met because they were designed in from the start, not negotiated at the end.

This is the kind of project that's possible when interior designers, architects, and the integration team work as one from the first sketch. Browse our other projects to see how this approach plays out across different spaces, or learn about our design partner program if you're a designer or architect looking to bring this level of integration into your next residential project.