Historic facades on Guildford High Street with the Guildhall cupola and its projecting clock. Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0A town of many building eras
Guildford grew where the River Wey passes through the North Downs, and the Surrey Hills surround it on three sides. Its housing tells the story of each century. Charlotteville, laid out from 1862 by the architect Henry Peak and funded by a local doctor, Thomas Sells, is one of the first planned suburbs in Britain. After the First World War, the Onslow Village Society bought 646 acres from the Earl of Onslow in 1920, and around 600 houses followed; the Westborough estate came in the same decade. More recently, the former Stoughton Barracks was redeveloped for housing in the 1990s, and new family homes continue to be built around the town.
Guildford Borough Council manages the town's conservation areas, including Charlotteville and Warren Road, where an Article 4 direction made in 2004 limits certain external works, and parts of Onslow Village. The town has more than 400 listed buildings.
From our Cobham projectWhat a Guildford client said
We installed Control4 home automation and Lutron lighting control in a new-build family home in Guildford. The owners, Turning Left For Less, wrote in a Google review: "We engaged Art of Integration for our Control4 home automation and Lutron lighting control system at our new build family home in Guildford, and the experience was excellent from start to finish." New builds are where a smart home is easiest to do properly, because the cabling, lighting circuits and equipment space can all be designed in before the walls are finished.
From our Cobham projectGetting a new build right
If you are building or buying off plan, bring us in at first fix. That is when we can wire every keypad, speaker, access point and camera position, design the lighting circuits for Lutron scene control rather than individual switches, and plan a ventilated space for the equipment rack. Control4 then ties lighting, heating, blinds, security and entertainment into one app. Doing it at build stage costs less and looks better than retrofitting later, and it stops a developer's standard switch plates ending up in every room.
We also back what we install. Control4 programming carries our 12 month installation warranty, the equipment has a 2 year manufacturer's warranty, and our in-house maintenance team supports the system after that. We are a Platinum Control4 dealer and won the Control4 Circle of Excellence award in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
From our Cobham projectRetrofitting Victorian and interwar houses
Charlotteville's Victorian houses and Onslow Village's interwar cottages are a different job. Walls are finished, rooms are smaller and owners want minimal disruption. Wireless Lutron lighting fits without chasing plaster, in-ceiling speakers go in through small, neat openings, and a well-planned Wi-Fi network gives every floor a strong signal. In the Charlotteville and Warren Road conservation area, the Article 4 direction means some external changes need permission, so we keep visible equipment off the front of the house and check anything external with the council first.
Our demonstration cinema in Walton-on-ThamesCinema rooms in Guildford
For a cinema, the question is usually which room. A loft conversion, a room over the garage or a spare reception room can all work; around 12 to 16 square metres with a 2.2 to 2.5 metre ceiling is a comfortable start for two rows. Our nearest published cinema is the cinema and games room in Fetcham, which completed a new family home with a 126 inch acoustically transparent screen, a Sony 4K laser projector and Dolby Atmos. A professionally designed small cinema room typically costs £15,000 to £25,000 fully installed.
In a smaller interwar house, a media room in the sitting room is often the better answer: a large TV or a screen that drops from the ceiling, speakers hidden in the ceiling, and lighting scenes that dim the room at one touch and return it to a sitting room afterwards.
Book a showroom visit to try Control4 and Lutron for yourself in Walton-on-Thames, or book a free design consultation at home.
