Residents at Jackson Park, high-rise luxury rental towers in Long Island City, can now control their lights, television and thermostat from anywhere in the home using Amazon’s Echo Show.
Tishman Speyer, one of the world’s leading developers, owners, operators and asset managers of first-class real estate, has announced an innovative collaboration with Amazon in which the first residents of all 1,871 apartments at Jackson Park, its trio of high-rise luxury rental towers in Long Island City, will receive an Amazon Echo Show complimentary upon move-in.
In addition to receiving a new Echo Show, all Jackson Park residents will also receive a complimentary smart outlet that can link to the Amazon Show device to highlight some of the endless possibilities associated with smart home and voice-activated technology. Tishman Speyer will also equip each of its 120 premium penthouse residences with a full suite of smart home devices certified to work with Amazon Alexa, including electrical outlets, light switches, and thermostats, enabling new residents to control their home simply by asking Alexa.
“With Jackson Park, Tishman Speyer is setting new standards for Long Island City luxury living and amenities,” said Rob Speyer, president and CEO of Tishman Speyer. “We are thrilled to be working with Amazon, the undisputed leader in advanced smart home technology. We are striving for the best possible experience for our residents and this collaboration completes the amenity package at Jackson Park.”
“From making a living space more comfortable to offering entertainment and information, Alexa and Echo devices can improve the experiences we have in our homes,” said Charlie Kindel, the director of Amazon Smart Home. “Smart home control is one of the most popular Alexa features today, and we think Long Island City residents will love using their voice to make life at home easier.”
The Amazon Echo Show features a 7-inch touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera and is powered by Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that can help residents with tasks, entertainment, general information and more. The Echo Show will offer residents voice responses from Alexa that are now enhanced with visuals and optimized for visibility across the room. Residents can call or message their family and friends, get the news with a video flash briefing, see their Prime Photos, shop with their voice, see lyrics with Amazon Music and more.
Once connected to smart devices in the home, Echo Show will also allow residents to control their lights, television, and thermostat from anywhere in the home by linking with any smart home products in the Works with Amazon Alexa program, other Amazon Echo devices and more. Speakers can be grouped as well, creating a multi-room entertainment system seamlessly controlled by voice.
The concept to develop smart-home enabled apartments originated out of Tishman Speyer’s global internal innovation competition known as the Idea Olympics. Launched in 2016, the Idea Olympics challenged junior executives at Tishman Speyer to form teams and develop a concept for an original residential amenity that would revolutionize the way people live. Teams competed through two rounds of competition and the winner of 2016’s competition developed the concept to offer apartments equipped with smart home technology, to be implemented in Jackson Park. Tishman Speyer has taken that idea from this internal competition to market in just one year.
Jackson Park renderings
courtesy of Tishman Speyer.
A partnership between Duravit and Studio 804 will help to pave the way toward a more innovative, accessible and sustainable world of design.
Rendering of the 2018 Studio 804 house
Duravit has joined forces with Kansas-based Studio 804, Inc. to promote the benefits of innovative, adaptive architecture and design. Studio 804, Inc. is a not-for-profit that annually builds and designs a home that represents sustainable, affordable, and inventive building solutions. Duravit will donate a variety of bathroom product for the 2018 house, highlighting the impact of forward-thinking, modern bathroom design.
“Our partnership with Studio 804 is a testament to the value of their program,” says Duravit USA President Tim Schroeder. “The effort, research, and care that goes into every Studio 804 project is something Duravit is incredibly proud to be involved with, while the company’s goal to create thoughtful, sustainable design aligns with our own core values.”
Duravit X-Large Vanity in Studio 804 Bathroom
Duravit’s Darling New Mirror
Duravit will donate product to correspond with the project’s modern design and accessible features. Signature collections, including Darling New, X-Large and Delos, will be on display. Featured items include:
X-Large wall-mounted vanity: Offering plenty of storage space and subtle elegance, the X-Large vanity unit combines function with form. Perfect for small spaces, X-Large highlights maximized storage, accessibility and sleek design solutions.
Delos Mirror cabinet: Designed by EOOS, the Delos mirror cabinet utilizes innovative, non-glare LED technology and modern, minimalist forms to deliver a design-centric mirror with storage and technical solutions in mind.
“Duravit has been an ideal partner for Studio 804 throughout the years,” says Dan Rockhill, a professor within the school of architecture at University of Kansas. “The brand’s focus on innovative, lasting design matches our goals in addressing today’s evolving housing needs and shifting lifestyles.”
The 2018 house will be adjacent to Brook Creek Park in Kansas, situated to maximize views of the natural landscape. The house was designed with an open-space, flexible floor plan in mind to accommodate a variety of living situations and varying needs of the inhabitants. The project consists of both a 1,500-square-foot main house and a 500-square-foot dwelling unit, allowing for greater flexibility and multiple, adaptable living situations. Following in the footsteps of previous years, students will aim for an eleventh LEED Platinum building by limiting their impact on the environment and utilizing advanced building technologies.
Studio 804 is expected to reveal their 2018 housing project in May 2018.
Photos courtesy of Studio 804, Inc.