Design & Consultancy · Power, Lighting Controls and Technology
Electrical design consultancy for prime London projects
Every system in a modern building ultimately depends on the electrical design. Comfort cooling, ventilation, lighting scenes, the home-automation processor, the Wi-Fi that carries a video call – all of it draws on one distribution network, and the quality of that network is decided on drawings long before anyone pulls a cable. AVC provides electrical design and consultancy that treats power, lighting control and technology as a single engineering problem rather than three separate packages discovered to be incompatible on site.
Because AVC installs and commissions these systems as well as designing them, our drawings reflect how buildings are actually built: distribution boards positioned where joinery can absorb them, containment routes that survive coordination with structure and ductwork, and spare capacity documented so the building can grow without being rewired. The deliverable is a set of documents a contractor can price and build from with confidence – and a building whose electrical infrastructure quietly supports everything above it.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-EDC-01
Finished prime London interior where the electrical design is invisible – flush keypads, discreet lighting and no visible clutter
Landscape · 16:9 · min 2400 px wide
Electrical design consultancy is the engineering of a building's power distribution, lighting circuits and controls, and technology infrastructure before construction begins – load assessment, distribution architecture, circuit and containment design, and the documentation that lets contractors price and build accurately. AVC Integrations provides this service for prime residential and high-end commercial projects across London, designing power, lighting control, home automation, BMS, audio-visual and network systems as one coordinated electrical backbone with BS 7671 compliance in view throughout.
The starting point
The problem: electrical design treated as an afterthought
On too many high-value projects the electrical package is priced from a sketch and resolved on site. The consequences follow a familiar pattern: distribution boards that cannot feed the mechanical plant actually specified, no dedicated supplies for the AV rack or the network cabinet, lighting circuits wired without reference to the control strategy, and containment that was never sized for the technology cabling a prime residence now carries. Each shortfall surfaces during fit-out, when the walls are closed and every correction costs builders' work.
The deeper issue is fragmentation. Power is designed by one party, lighting control specified by another, home automation and AV by a third – and nobody owns the interfaces between them. A keypad needs a wired position, a driver needs a location with access, a condenser needs a supply with the right protection, and a network cabinet needs power, cooling and containment. When these requirements meet for the first time on site, the programme and the budget absorb the difference.
How AVC works
The AVC approach: one backbone, designed once
We start with what the building will actually demand – not just at handover, but across its life. Load assessment covers the mechanical plant, lighting, small power, EV charging and technology systems together, and the distribution architecture is designed from that whole: incoming supply, switchgear, sub-mains and final circuits arranged with deliberate spare capacity and clean separation between noisy and sensitive loads. Resilience is designed in where the project justifies it, and BS 7671 – the UK wiring regulations – frames the design decisions from the first schematic rather than being checked at the end.
Around that backbone we design the systems most electrical consultancies treat as someone else's problem: lighting circuits and control architecture in support of the architectural lighting designer, home-automation and control-system design, BMS design for larger residences and commercial buildings, audio-visual and entertainment systems, and structured cabling with wireless coverage planned rather than hoped for. Because one team designs all of it, the interfaces are resolved on drawings – and the documentation a contractor receives describes a building that has already been coordinated.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-EDC-02
Electrical design documentation in progress – distribution schematic, circuit schedules or a coordinated services model on screen
Landscape · 4:3 · min 1800 px wide
What we deliver
Scope of service
Electrical design appointments range from a full building design to a review of an existing consultant's package. The scope typically covers:
Power and distribution
- Load assessment and maximum-demand estimation across all systems
- Incoming supply strategy and support with the network operator application
- Distribution architecture – switchgear, sub-mains and final circuit design
- Dedicated supplies for mechanical plant, AV racks, network cabinets and EV charging
- Spare capacity and future-provision strategy, documented rather than assumed
- Earthing, protection and surge-protection philosophy with BS 7671 in view
Lighting and controls
- Lighting circuit design in support of the architectural lighting designer's scheme
- Control architecture – DALI and other protocols selected to suit the project
- Keypad, sensor and scene-control strategy agreed with the design team
- Driver and control-gear locations planned for ventilation and maintenance access
- Emergency lighting provision coordinated on commercial and larger schemes
Technology systems
- Home-automation and control-system design – Crestron, Control4 and comparable platforms
- Structured cabling, network and Wi-Fi design with coverage planned room by room
- Audio-visual and entertainment system design, from discreet music to cinema rooms
- BMS design for larger residences and commercial buildings
- Containment and riser strategy sized for power and technology cabling together
Interfaces, resolved
One electrical backbone for every discipline
Electrical design touches every other package on the project, which is why we treat coordination as part of the design rather than a phase after it. The mechanical schedule defines supplies and interlocks; the lighting designer's scheme defines circuits and control zones; the interior drawings define where every keypad, socket and outlet may appear. Bringing those inputs together while the design is still fluid is most of the value of the appointment.
- Mechanical plant supplies, isolation and interlocks scheduled with the mechanical design
- Lighting circuits and control zones aligned with the lighting designer's intent
- Keypad, socket and outlet positions agreed with the interior designer on elevations
- Containment and riser space sized with the architect while riser and containment space is still cheap
- Network cabinet and AV rack locations resolved for power, cooling and access
- Documentation structured to sit alongside the wider M&E consultant's package where one is appointed
- Future capacity and expansion routes recorded in the drawings, not in someone's memory
Photo location: AVC-EXP-EDC-03
Neatly dressed distribution board or plant-room electrical installation with labelled ways and tidy containment
Landscape · 4:3 · min 1800 px wide
Where this applies
Project types
Prime houses
whole-house electrical infrastructure carrying climate, lighting, AV and networks on one design
Apartments and lateral refurbishments
existing supplies and risers assessed honestly before the technology ambitions are fixed
Developer schemes
repeatable electrical and technology designs that survive value engineering intact
High-end commercial
offices, restaurants and boutique hospitality where power, controls and BMS must work as one
Delivery
How an electrical design appointment runs
- 01
Briefing
the project ambitions, systems and constraints understood before any circuit is drawn
- 02
Load assessment
demand estimated across mechanical, lighting, small power and technology systems together
- 03
Distribution strategy
incoming supply, switchgear, sub-mains and spare capacity designed as an architecture
- 04
Systems design
lighting control, home automation, BMS, AV and network infrastructure designed onto the backbone
- 05
Coordination
containment, plant supplies, keypads and outlets resolved with the wider design team
- 06
Documentation
schematics, schedules and specifications issued for pricing and construction
- 07
Site support
technical queries answered, installation reviewed and commissioning intent protected through delivery
Timing
Why early involvement matters
The decisions that constrain an electrical design – the incoming supply capacity, riser positions, plant-room locations, ceiling depths – are all made early in the architectural process, long before anyone has drawn a schematic. Joining at concept stage means the supply application starts in time, the risers are sized for the cabling the project will really carry, and the control strategy is agreed before joinery drawings fix where a keypad cannot go. Joining later means negotiating with decisions that have already closed.
Early involvement also protects the budget. Spare capacity, containment and wired provision cost little on a drawing and a great deal in a finished wall. We would rather help a client spend modestly on future provision at design stage than expensively on remedial work three years after handover.
Placeholder – project evidence
Project example to follow – a genuine AVC electrical design appointment with the client's permission. Documentation extracts and photography are being prepared.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-EDC-04
Completed living or entertaining space where lighting scenes, audio and climate all run from the designed electrical infrastructure
Landscape · 16:9 · min 1800 px wide
Connected expertise
Related services
Design & Consultancy
the full design scope – mechanical, electrical and MEP coordination
Electrical Engineering
installation and commissioning of the systems we design
Lighting Systems
lighting control delivered from design through commissioning
Networks & Wi-Fi
structured cabling and wireless coverage engineered properly
Smart Home, Controls & AV
whole-home control built on the electrical backbone
From the knowledge centre
Related engineering guides
BS 7671 Explained: The Electrical Certificates Every Developer and Client Should Understand
What the IET Wiring Regulations actually require, what changed in Amendment 4:2026, and how to read the certificates – EIC, MEIWC and EICR – that decide whether your project is compliant, insurable and sellable.
Read article
Prime Residential Wi-Fi Design: Why Coverage Is the Wrong Goal
A £10m house with dead spots is embarrassingly common, and the cause is never the router – it's the absence of design. How wireless is actually engineered for high-end homes.
Read article
What Is DALI? The Complete Guide to DALI Lighting Control
The definitive engineering reference on DALI: what it is, precisely how the bus works, the wiring and topology rules that decide success on site, DALI-2 and D4i, honest comparisons with every alternative – and verified detail on how DALI integrates with Lutron HomeWorks and Crestron Home.
Read articleQuestions, answered
Frequently asked questions
When should the electrical load assessment happen?+
As early as the project allows – ideally at concept stage, before the incoming supply is assumed adequate. The assessment covers mechanical plant, lighting, small power, EV charging and technology systems together, and if a new or upgraded supply is needed the network operator's timescales can shape the whole programme. Discovering a supply shortfall during fit-out is one of the most expensive surprises a project can have.
How do you coordinate the specialist systems – AV, automation, networks – with the power design?+
By designing them from the same desk. Every rack, processor, cabinet and driver appears in the load assessment, receives a designed supply and a containment route, and is positioned with cooling and maintenance access in mind. Because the interfaces are resolved within one design rather than between three contractors, they are settled on drawings instead of on site.
Can the design allow for future expansion?+
Yes, and it should. We design deliberate spare capacity into distribution boards, size containment beyond the day-one cable schedule and document wired provision for systems a client may add later – a future cinema, a pool plant upgrade, additional EV charging. The exact allowance is project-specific and agreed at briefing stage, then recorded in the documentation so the provision is never lost.
What documentation does an electrical design package include?+
Typically distribution schematics, circuit and containment layouts, load schedules, control-system architecture drawings and a specification the contractor can price against. The level of detail is matched to the appointment – a planning-stage strategy is a different document from a construction issue. In every case the aim is the same: a package that removes ambiguity rather than transferring it to site.
How does AVC work alongside an appointed M&E consultant?+
Comfortably, and often. On many projects the M&E consultant carries the overall building services design while AVC designs the specialist layers – lighting control, home automation, AV and networks – in coordination with it. We structure our documentation to sit alongside theirs, agree interfaces explicitly and keep one conversation about the electrical backbone rather than two competing ones.
Does AVC replace the architectural lighting designer?+
No. The lighting designer owns the visual scheme – fittings, layers, atmosphere. AVC engineers what sits behind it: the circuits, the control architecture, driver locations, and the keypads and sensors that operate the scenes. The collaboration works best when both appointments start early, so the control strategy and the creative intent develop together.
How does the design address BS 7671?+
BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations, frames the design from the outset – protection, earthing, circuit arrangement and the selection decisions behind them – rather than appearing as a compliance check at the end. Designing with the regulations in view from the first schematic means the installing contractor can certify the finished work without redesign, whoever that contractor is.
Is this a design-only service, or does AVC install as well?+
Both models are available. Some clients appoint AVC for design consultancy alone, with another contractor installing; others take design, installation and commissioning as one accountable scope. The design package is written to stand on its own either way – a contractor who has never met us should be able to price and build from it.
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