There is a particular pressure that comes with designing a kitchen for someone who has built a career as a professional chef and restauranteur. Combine that with aspirations to further elevate said kitchen space with luxury home automation and smart home design, and you have the challenge ZIO stepped into.
Here, two philosophies existed as mandates for this chef’s luxury smart kitchen. The first, as is common, is that the technology at play disappears into the architecture. The second is that, in all things, function must come before aesthetics.
ZIO Prioritizes Function Foremost in Professional Chef’s Smart Kitchen Design
Looking at the kitchen, one sees a vast area to be addressed. Twin islands are anchored on dark textured mats beneath a coffered white ceiling and flanked by floor-to-ceiling matte taupe cabinetry that reads almost like a single continuous plane.
While lighting plays the biggest role in the overall technology stack, the homeowner also wanted integrated audio systems, as well a means to control both at will while throwing together a meal or hosting a gathering.
Photometrics Helps ZIO Better Understand Lighting Needs
As part of the smart lighting design for the kitchen, ZIO conducted a full photometric analysis—a process more commonly associated with commercial or hospitality specification than residential installation. This was done to ensure that every square foot of working surface receives consistent quality light.
The bulk of that illumination comes from Ketra architectural downlights, chosen for their precision beam control, color tuning capability and the quality of light they produce at the surface level. ZIO also worked primarily with small aperture fixtures so as to reduce the visual clutter and potential glare points on the ceiling.
Above the twin islands and along the countertop runs, Ketra linear fixtures introduce a more diffuse cove ambiance that layers a second register of light over the functional downlight field.
The Millwork Coordination Challenge
To keep everything concealed, much of the technology ended up being integrated directly into the millwork. This added an extra layer of challenge due to the precise coordination needed with the various contractors and cabinet makers on the project.
In one case, Ketra linear fixtures were specified for in-cabinet and under-cabinet positions after the cabinets had been installed, requiring a removal of said cabinets to be modified and later added back in.
Elsewhere, keypads and touchscreens landed flush and level within their millwork surrounds thanks to open communication between the contractors.
Shading Struggles in the Pantry
The pantry presented its own geometric puzzle. A motorized shade originally specified as a single panel spanning the full window width collided with a faucet installed directly beneath the contractor-built shade pocket, placing the faucet in a direct line of collision with the shade itself when lowered.
ZIO resolved the conflict by redesigning the window treatment as two discrete panels, carefully measured to create a light gap at their meeting point precisely wide enough to clear the faucet without the gap reading as a flaw in the installation.
Owner-Assisted Scenes Reflect Kitchen’s Dual Life
The scene programming ZIO developed with the owner’s direct input reflects the dual life this kitchen leads. Warm, lower-intensity scenes support the ambient experience of entertaining in a space that opens into the home’s larger open living area.
Cool, high-intensity scenes then bring the kitchen to full professional brightness for serious food preparation and the demanding visibility required when cleaning a working chef’s kitchen at the end of service.
The smart lighting system transitions between these states on demand, without any visible control infrastructure disrupting the kitchen design, thanks to an integrated Josh.ai microphone for voice commands.
Josh also allows the homeowner to control the room’s audio, as well, which, much like the lighting, follows the same ‘small aperture’ logic, allowing speakers to be hidden throughout the space.
The result is a project that showcases the extreme end of how homeowners are coming to expect their smart home systems to perform. Rather than cater to a general lifestyle, these systems are expected to home in on the homeowner’s passions, elevating their interior life to its highest while they are there.
Equipment List
- Lighting
- Ketra linear and downlighting fixtures
- Control
- Control4
- Josh.ai voice control
- Audio
- James Loudspeaker in-ceiling speakers
- Control4 audio distribution
This project is part of our coverage for the 2025 CE Pro Home of the Year Awards. Presented annually at CEDIA Expo alongside the BEST Product Awards, the Home of the Year Awards represent the best of the best smart home innovations within the CEDIA channel. If you have a project you would like to submit to the Home of the Year Awards, consider following CE Pro on social media or subscribing to our newsletter for when we announce the next submission round.
