\nDesigner Ian Potter discusses the smart tech powering this exclusive island bolthole
\nIan Potter
\nFew designers light up a place quite like Ian Potter, founder of CWL Lighting. In recent years his company has supernova\u2019d into a star name in the hospitality industry, with a client-list that covers 14 countries and includes brands like Aman, Dusit Thani, Hilton, Intercontinental, Marriott, Pullman, and Sheraton. Potter has also become a go-to collaborator for famed interior designers such as P49, PIA, Bill Bensley, Leo Inter, and HBA.
\nWhile his forte is hotels, the UK-born designer paid his dues \u2014 and is still \u2014 illuminating the abodes of high-net-worth individuals and celebrities in Asia and further afield. Indeed, he was a major presence during the boom period of villa building in Phuket in the late 90s and the early Noughties.
\nHe has since been enlisted to shed light on two Phuket properties owned by David Roberts, former CEO of the New York-based architecture firm Aedas.
\nBetween 2011 and 2013, CWL and Bangkok-based architecture firm Ideal 1 collaborated on Roberts\u2019 THB200-million (USD5.75 million) villa that sits on 8,400 square metres of prime parcel in the hills near Rawai Beach. The 1,731-square-metre structure radiates inside and out with LED external lights, in-ground uplights at all structural supports, uplit rubble walls, and even a home theatre fitted with fibre optics that evoke the night sky.<\/p>\n
In terms of lighting, would you call David\u2019s villa a smart home?
\nThe fact that the whole lighting system is integrated into one control system is pretty smart. If the owner hears a crash or noise outside he can just hit buttons on his bedside control panel, turning on all the external lights and the corridor lighting as a security feature.
\nSmart living is using technology to help you perform necessary functions to make life easier \u2014 not gimmicks
\nThe fact that all of the channels are dimmable is quite intelligent too. The lights are integrated to the security system so if the system detects an intrusion it will light all perimeter lighting and various other external lights \u2013 even if nobody is at the property.
\nMore: The dawn of the smart home is upon us \u2013 are you ready?<\/p>\n
Tell us more about the lighting scenes
\nThere is a clock that turns on the external lighting at designated times. The lighting system calculates when it gets dark. It doesn\u2019t come on at the same time throughout the year though, because the time of dusk changes across the year in Phuket. When it calculates the time for the lighting to come on, it runs with one lighting scene and then it fades into another lighting scene, which is usually softer.
\nThe owner also has a handheld control in his car so that as he approaches the villa he can turn the lighting on.<\/p>\n
What makes each villa you work on unique?
\nEach individual villa is custom designed; you can\u2019t cut and paste. However, techniques may be similar. This depends on the effect we\u2019re looking for or what the individual owners want. Some owners, especially Westerners, like lower-level lighting. They like to have quiet areas, no glare, a softer, orangey type of light \u2014 like candlelight.
\nWhereas if you do a property for moneyed Asians, they like it to be very bright. They\u2019re not into intimacy and quiet spots so much.<\/p>\n