Integrator MCBEE delivered a Crestron-based control backbone for the amenity spaces in this sprawling development on the New Delhi skyline.
Named after one of Asia’s most striking native flowering plants, The Camellias adds a dramatic focal point to cityscape views. Housing 429 residences across 16 towers, the development pairs palatial architecture with commercial hospitality in the thick of urban life. Leisure zones centre around a multipurpose 160,000 sq ft clubhouse, while sports facilities and landscaped environments enhance the outdoors.
You might think this development’s lap of luxury ends there, but lift the curtain on its infrastructure and you’ll find advanced technology has a unique and interesting role to play – one with the potential to set a global precedent.
As one of India’s first LEED Platinum-certified residential developments, The Camellias balances attention to detail with operational efficiency. Let's take a deep dive into its control story, unpicking how the Crestron-based system delivered a scalable entertainment and amenity experience.
Working closely with Indian developer DLF, MCBEE delivered a control layer tying AV, lighting, HVAC and security into a tight operating model across the development’s entertainment facilities. Its scope spans restaurant and bar areas through to a cinema/performance hall, with communal infrastructure segmented from the private apartments. As we’ll see, the brief combined wellness and ambience to make spaces feel distinct in character yet reliable in use – much as a premium commercial venue would.
Scalable control
To translate effortless luxury into daily reality, MCBEE designed a system that adapts to how the site is routinely used by residents and visitors. Systems are preprogrammed by zone type and time of day, ensuring lighting scenes, background music and HVAC settings reflect each area’s intended energy.
“The communal spaces were designed by architecture firm Rockwell Group,” begins Sawan Nichani, founder of MCBEE. “Each zone has its own identity - both in terms of aesthetics and system performance, including tailored sound design for each space.”
The Crestron DM NAX Audio-over-IP platform allows playlists and material to be assigned per zone and adjusted quickly when spaces change function. As with the wider development, this technology supports both scalable and sustainable luxury - a particularly useful approach in areas like the cinema hall and restaurant.
Server-based control extends across the clubhouse, common buildings and outdoor areas to streamline operations at scale. As a result, the platform behaves like a single ecosystem for staff and residents despite being spread across spaces with numerous acoustic, lighting and occupancy patterns.
Keeping efficiency in mind, the control strategy uses occupancy sensing and intelligent scheduling to dial down systems in unused areas. Far from a compromise, the system makes energy reduction feel intrinsic to the guest experience and highlights how commercial-grade integration can rationalise high luxury.
“Each zone has its own identity - both in terms of aesthetics and system performance, including tailored sound design for each space.”
“Sustainability played a subtle but important role in this project,” says Nichani. “We focused on efficient lighting control, smart HVAC integration, and automation that reduces unnecessary energy usage, while still keeping the experience seamless for the end user.”
Focusing on the lighting, DALI provides architectural control and DMX supports dynamic effects where required. The custom Crestron programming centrally manages more than 2,000 fixtures, characterising the site’s sensory flow and comfort. By integrating lighting, AV, HVAC and shading into one control framework, MCBEE avoided a patchwork of apps and keypads across the property. Instead, end users experience coherent integration even as each venue maintains its own style.
Built for variety
Crestron’s CP3 Control System coordinates the amenity integration, handling disparate technologies and scalable deployment as spaces evolve over time. From a user perspective, it provides a consistent interface across the clubhouse and grounds. And from an integrator standpoint, that translated into more than 200 unique GUI screens alongside an automation layer responding to different use cases.
Four rack-mounted PDUs distribute power to the critical AV, networking and automation systems, harnessing advanced load monitoring to increase serviceability. To tune each zone for both mood and efficiency, MCBEE needed the full control platform to speak smoothly to third-party systems including DALI lighting management, DMX for dynamic lighting effects, and integrated HVAC control. Crucially, the brief required a clear boundary between shared infrastructure and the private apartments. MCBEE’s integration focused on the communal areas, rather than rolling a standard package out across all 429 residences.
Lifestyle offering
Around 40 homes were executed separately, each as a bespoke project. “The communal system is completely independent of the private residences,” says Nichani. “It’s isolated, secure, and designed to operate on its own backbone without any overlap.” This approach protected privacy as well as productivity, ensuring communal operations would never be affected by in-home changes or upgrades.
Unsurprisingly, the restaurant in the clubhouse acts as a vibrant social and lifestyle hub. Its audio system is built around K-array loudspeaker technology, resulting in an architecturally integrated sound environment with consistent coverage and reinforcement.
A departure from dense urban development models, The Camellias leans into amenity design to encourage optional socialising and hospitality-style encounters. The apartments themselves are distinguished by generous terraces and high privacy, but their differentiator is the clubhouse ecosystem that supports day-to-day life like a resort.
“All homes are fully independent, with no reliance on centralised content systems,” explains Nichani. “Every project was customised, from the user interface to keypad finishes to speaker selections. No two homes were treated the same. We install remote access solutions with full client control; every system includes a kill switch, allowing the homeowner to instantly revoke any external access. This is standard across all our projects.”
Entertainment and comfort
MCBEE developed five distinct energy zones to inform how people move through the communal complex, stretching from tranquil environments through to lively social spaces. Each zone combines time-based programming with occupancy feedback, maintaining an appropriate atmosphere without manual intervention. “The five energy zones were applied only to the clubhouse,” says Nichani. “Since residences were handed over bare shell, each homeowner had full freedom to design their space based on their own lifestyle and preferences.”
Background music, lighting scenes and temperature targets shift automatically as the day progresses, keeping transitions smooth during peak demand and conserving energy when areas are quiet. Bose flush-mounted FreeSpace ceiling speakers contribute ambient sound and speech reproduction in shared quarters, supported by MB210 compact subwoofers for small sound reinforcement systems.
"Each homeowner had full freedom to design their space based on their own lifestyle and preferences.”
Meanwhile, the brand’s PowerMatch amplification ties the distributed audio system together from the rack room, providing scalable power distribution to ceiling speaker and subwoofer zones. The PM4250, 4500, 8250, 8500 models were chosen for their concert-like quality and scalable performance. Four Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+DANTE units function as the networked amplification layer, powering distributed audio systems.
Content distribution rests on Crestron’s IP-based ecosystem; the DM NVX encoder streams video from 16 sources to 55 displays with low latency, minus the constraints of traditional matrix switching.
Units such as the AVPro AC-EX100-UHD-R3 HDBaseT Receiver extend 4K video, audio, control and network data over a single structured cable run to distributed displays.
The development’s visual infrastructure is built around a Christie 28,000-lumen 4K laser projector and a Pandoras Box R4 Server/Player, delivering reference-grade performance.
Cinema and premium viewing applications are further supported by the Kaleidescape Strato 4K HDR player, delivering bit-perfect movie playback within a reference-grade residential cinema environment. Video processing is handled by the madVR Envy platform, while the Trinnov Altitude32 serves as the immersive audio processor for spatial sound reproduction and room optimisation.
By integrating lighting, AV, HVAC and shading into one control framework, MCBEE avoided an excess of apps and keypads across the property. Instead, end users experience coherent integration that enables the estate to function as a set of interlinked venues rather than isolated spaces.
Treating the amenity estate in this way, MCBEE’s work at DLF’s The Camellias shows how AV and control can be designed around amenity use. The development protects privacy and resilience, allowing residents to personalise their homes while shared experiences run reliably in the background.
All images courtesy of MCBEE
Tech-Spec
APC AP7821B Switched Rack PDU, 1U, 16A, 208/230V
Apple Mac Mini, Media & Control Computing Platforms, iPaid Air 256GB WiFi Mobile Control interfaces and 4K TVs
AVPro Edge AC-EX100-UHD-R3 100m HDBaseT Receivers with RS-232, IR, Ethernet
Bose Professional FreeSpace, DS & OmniPendant loudspeakers; FS3 II and MB210 subwoofers; PowerMatch amplification
Christie CP4330-RGB 4K High Frame Rate RGB Pure Laser Projector, Pandoras Box R4 Media Players and Media Server Platform
Cisco Meraki MS425-32 Cloud-managed Aggregation Switch
Crestron CP3 3-Series Processor; TSW-1060 touchscreens; Cameo and architectural keypads; C2N-LCDB3 LCD keypads; DSP-1281/1282 DSPs with Dante, USB audio, AEC and conferencing
Kaleidescape Strato 4K HDR Movie Player
K-array Anakonda, Kayman, Python, Vyper, Tornado, Domino & turtle series; Capture KMC 20H; Rumble, Thunder & KI subwoofers
Kordz ONE-CAT6a, ONE-SP12 & ONE-SP14 speaker cable, PRO CAT8 patch cords, slim-profile network cables, PRS HDMI (4K UHD)
MadVR Envy 4K HDR Dynamic Tone Mapping Processor
Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+DANTE 8-channel Power Amplifiers
Rockacustics Periscape 6 six-inch, twoway weatherproof speakers
Samsung commercial displays, 43 to 98-inches (DC & QB series)
Sennheiser EW 500-G4945 Wireless Handheld Microphone System, A 2003-UHF Passive Directional Antenna, ASA 1 Antenna Splitter, GZL 9000 A10 RF Low-loss Cable
Trinnov Altitude32-1632 32-Channel Audio/Video Preamplifier
Ultamation UC-DMX-200 DMX Lighting Controllers