The Terrace

Defined as a smart building for the digital age, this 2022 new build boasts nine floors of technological sophistication. All 7,800 m2, including retail space, car park and offices, contain a vast, intricate, yet invisible network of sensors and smart luminaires that enable full automation of lights, temperature and access control.  

The client, a real estate development company, sought to establish here the latest ‘smart office’ standards that are fit and prepared for the future. As such, The Terrace is considered a lighthouse project to be rolled out to other real estate projects within the client’s portfolio.  

The brief stipulated that the technology must augment working life via an all-in-one solution – an app – to program and control the various hardware elements.  It was required to simplify the operation for the user and allow for more efficient use of the building’s facilities without the need for extra manpower.  

AIMOTION planned and programmed the smart hardware solutions and backend systems whereby data is processed and converted into decision-supporting information. 

Using iBeacons, real-time location tracking and indoor navigation provide employees and operators with the possibility to easily view and adjust the heating and lighting scene options within their immediate vicinity. Presence detection and daylight sensors optimize energy use within the building by ensuring that lights and heating are only on when required. The app provides user-friendly booking options for intelligent desk-sharing and underground parking allocation.  

‘We integrated Casambi using the API. This ensured that the occupants of the building could enjoy the benefits of Casambi in a way that worked seamlessly with the other technologies installed within the space. For example, the Casambi App is used to control all the lights in the building. But if an occupant wishes to change the lights in a particular room, they don’t necessarily want to scroll through 1000+ lights in the Casambi App. By using iBeacons and integrating Casambi via the API, only the lights in the room you’re occupying appear in the control user interface’ Aileen Herpell, Co-Founder of AIMOTION. 

How it works

The building’s app – which was provided by a third-party company – has integrated Casambi via the Casambi Cloud API. The sensors communicate via the Casambi Cloud API and send brightness and motion data to the building management system’s cloud server. The iBeacons communicate with the building’s own app, which in turn, controls the functions (lights, radiators, room occupancy, access control, sun blinds, etc.). Even the elevator is automatically called with the floor pre-selected as soon as a user – with the app on their cell phone – walks toward the elevator in the underground parking garage.                                    

In total, it took approximately 12 days to commission The Terrace – from pre-programming the modules and sensors in Hamburg, shipping articles to the installer who performed the installation, to fine-programming the light scenes and brightness measurements for daylight control on site. AIMOTION provided all the on-site commissioning as well as remote programming from their office in Hamburg.

The on-site administrator has a dashboard with an overview of all the stored functions such as room occupancy, heat map, parking space management and desk occupancy. He also uses the dashboard to assign access and lighting control rights to employees or visitors. This ensures that no employee can make changes for which they are not authorized. More so, he can orchestrate a user experience imbued with personal touch.

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