Articles and whitepapers

Trade Talk: The Majik House Experience - a test bed for new equipment and technology (20/5/2009)

By Ashley Hutchinson, Armour Home

The Majik House was formed ten years ago by owner Tim Burrow in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. His objective was to be the largest home technology centre in the UK, (well, certainly in Kirkby Lonsdale!) and provide his customers with a range of solutions to match their requirements, based around audio visual entertainment that many people simply would not know was possible. This concept was born from Tim’s passion for music, and an engineering background. After ten years, The Majik House is flourishing and has just moved to a larger venue to support its increasing customer requests. The Majik House Experience centre was established earlier this year in the Kirkby Lonsdale business park, with the objective of presenting Tim’s clients with the best products and solutions available at the price point.

The Majik House Experience

Planning

The aim of the Majik House Experience is to provide its clients with the ultimate experience of what is possible to achieve in the modern home. The team also uses the centre as a test bed for all new equipment and technology, with all items fully installed and operational.

For its clients, the Majik House team plan every installation meticulously. As an integrator of various products and technologies, planning is vital. The planning of every project starts the moment the client has defined their requirements - usually with the advice and help of The Majik House team. Once this is established, the next major choice is the products to be installed, and this is one of the biggest decisions of all. The Majik House team aims to offer its clients the best available in every arena, and this is reflected in the product choice in the experience centre. Every stage of the planning process is documented and full cabling specifications are provided. Without this, achieving complete customer satisfaction is almost impossible.

Each product on show at the centre is assessed individually, and several strict criteria must be met. One of the more interesting products that has made it through this process for the new centre was the Weibel projector lift. ‘The Weibel lift typifies what we are looking for in a solution’ says Tim. ‘The build quality is excellent, giving us an easier installation, and peace of mind to our clients.'

'This build quality gives a very precise stopped position, with a good margin of adjustability which allows a very snug fit in the ceiling. This means that it literally disappears into the ceiling when retracted, and lowers to exactly the same position every time for the perfect image position on the screen. It also gives us the distinct advantage of being very shallow in the ceiling aperture so it can fit where other lift products simply wouldn’t.’

The Weibel Lift revealed.

The Weibel Lift concealed.

This sort of product evaluation shows the efforts Tim and his team put into all products and technologies installed into their facilities, and ultimately in their customers' homes. With so many products and technologies emerging in the home technology market, this process is vital.

Experience from the project

The culmination of all of these efforts is there to be seen in the Majik House Experience. Now open for more than 12 months, has just had its 1000th visitor. As Tim puts it, 'We receive very positive feedback, with responses such as "I would never have expected to find such a high-tech business in this area" and "We never appreciated how much lighting can change a property" being typical.'

Tim and his team have now completed numerous projects in customers homes, many more than once as their customers have moved to another property. 'Customers come with ideas and take away solutions and a belief that we are the right company to fulfil their requirements, as our work is around them on full view and we have paid great attention to detail,' adds Tim.

Indeed having the centre as a test bed for new technology also has the benefit of allowing us to find solutions to any potential issues that may arise in the field. All installation staff can familiarise themselves with the new products beforehand, enabling them to physically install and operate the units in a complete installation environment. Any product issues are soon identified and are able to be overcome without any field failures, and best practises and procedures can be adopted in readiness for the actual installation.

Customers never cease to be amazed on their first visit to The Majik House Experience, and the Majik House team will not be stopping there. In fact the centre is such an experience that it is even hired out as a venue in its own right, giving The Majik House more visitors and another revenue stream. Again the fact that it attracts this sort of business is testament to the quality of the installation inside, and the sheer ‘wow’ factor. 'Once inside, you will be treated to fantastic décor, furniture, flooring and beautiful design throughout' says Tim. 'Everything you want, nothing you need, and a great cup of coffee too!'

Equipment List

Distributed audio/video and control:
Systemline Modular
Systemline S6
Imerge
Lutron Homeworks
Linn Knekt
Control 4
Netstreams
Nuvo Grand Concerto
Audio Authority
Naimnet

Flat panel displays:
Pioneer
Loewe
Panasonic
Samsung
LG
Sony

Projection systems:
Epson
Runco
Screen Research

Automation:
Weibel
Future Automation

Speaker systems:
Sonance
Linn
Triad
Definitive technologies
Velodyne
Aton
Elan
Solid Drive
Amina
Stealth Technologies

The Majik House provides ideas and solutions to all areas of home automation and entertainment, inlcluding lighting, cinema, audio and security.

www.majikhouse.com