Built as a sustainable luxury escape for Neil’s family and friends, Bunker House combines PDL smart home automation with energy efficiency to create a home where every comfort has been considered — from full climate control to an outdoor entertaining system, to EV chargers.

Set across three levels, the home’s complex features include a media room, intercom, indoor/outdoor audio system, steam room, heated pool, irrigation, air con and underfloor heating, automated blinds, shutters and windows, and security cameras.

With so many elements, Neil wanted the property to be simple to use for anyone who stayed there, especially as it is also available to rent. “I wanted everything to be controlled off my phone and off the screens throughout the house. If my parents are here and they don’t know how to do something, I want to be able to do it for them from wherever I am.”

Tom Ryan of Ryelec Automation & Energy says the impressive scale of the home and its suite of features made it an ideal candidate for full smart home automation using PDL C-Bus, a smart home wiring system. “We had to make it as easy as possible for someone to enter the house and know how to use it,” says Tom.

C-Bus gives oversight and control of a property by linking electronic elements like lighting, audio-visual, security, appliances, heating and even garden features in one easy-to-use system managed via touch-screen wall panels and a phone app. “C-Bus is what everyone interacts with in every room,” explains Tom. “The panels have little screens so you can label everything, making it a lot easier to use such a heavily automated home.”

Built-in modes such as Home, Away, and Going Out are customised to activate features like air conditioning or pool heating, or to shut everything down, with a single screen tap.

“We didn’t compromise with the automation,” says Neil. “Wherever I am in the world, I can control everything from my phone. If the grass looks a little bit dry, I can hit the sprinklers,” he laughs. Additionally, Tom says PDL C-Bus Smart home is a fantastic solution. “Every house that we’ve put C-Bus in, people love it. It’s easy to use and we never have any dramas.”