As outdoor living spaces continue to evolve into true extensions of the home, CE Pro Senior Editor Nick Boever sat down with Jason Sanders, vice president of product management at Coastal Source, to discuss what it takes to bring the indoor living experience outside.
Modularity Key to Creating Truly Custom Systems
Throughout the conversation, Sanders explored how changing homeowner expectations are influencing everything from system design to product development, with a particular emphasis on creating outdoor environments that deliver the same comfort, performance and ease of use people have come to expect indoors.
A major theme of the discussion centered on modularity, which Sanders described as a key design philosophy behind Coastal Source’s latest product development. Rather than forcing integrators to work around rigid product limitations, he explained how modular systems give dealers the flexibility to adapt installations as projects inevitably change in the field.
That thinking extends across the company’s expanding EVO lighting family, where multiple fixture styles share the same LED engine, connections and performance characteristics while producing different lighting effects. Sanders also pointed to the company’s plug-and-play cabling infrastructure as another example of modular system design, allowing lighting, audio and control products to work together while simplifying future expansion and modifications.
Products as Parts of System, Instead of Standalone Devices
The conversation also highlighted several recent product introductions that reinforce that philosophy. Sanders discussed how the Razor Backlight combines lighting and audio to create ambiance beyond what either category could accomplish alone, while the new 1000 Series bollard speakers incorporate technologies from Coastal Source’s flagship 12.0 Line Source Bollards alongside a new UniConnect cabling platform to improve both performance and installation efficiency. Together, the products illustrate the company’s broader effort to build complete outdoor systems rather than standalone devices.
For integrators looking ahead, the discussion offered insight into where outdoor technology is heading as homeowner expectations continue to rise. From seamless indoor-outdoor experiences to increasingly flexible system architectures, the conversation explored the ideas shaping the next generation of outdoor living without revealing every detail, making it a worthwhile watch for anyone interested in the future of residential outdoor entertainment and lighting.
