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HQ calls for integrated security

King Sturge offers commercial and residential property services globally through its network of over 100 wholly owned and associated offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. These services include agency, asset management, building consultancy (including project management and architecture), business recovery, corporate real estate services, investment, landlord and tenant, planning and valuations. The company also has extensive experience in the specialist areas of grant aid, mixed-use development, urban regeneration and sustainability.

King Sturge made the decision to move its London office into a six storey building situated in the heart of the West End. The new premises would fulfil a joint role. It would accommodate the corporate headquarters and the regional office responsible for much of the South East and East Anglia while ensuring all of the corporate, professional, agency and consultancy functions. The ground and first floor would become retail outlets. The fifth floor would be let out to a tenant.

The company was keen that its new premises demonstrate the prestige of the company and its experience within the field of property management. It was therefore imperative that the access control system that was implemented was state of the art and commensurate with a building of this nature.

King Sturge appointed WOT Security to undertake the installation of the access control system, following a recommendation from its contractors IBEX. Having met with WOT Security, the organisation felt confident in the company’s skill and its ability to meet the strict deadline.

The Honeywell solution

Louise Polledri, King Sturge project manager at Warwick Street says: “I already had a good idea of the security measures required in the building but WOT went above and beyond, making suggestions outside of the usual specification. They demonstrated that they have a broad range of skills, adequate to meet a project of this value.”

WOT Security recommended the Honeywell Security integrated systems solution as it offered the best match to King Sturge’s requirements. It planned a WIN-PAK Access Control system which would enable integration with CCTV cameras and a Fusion Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The solution would include two integrated speed lanes in the reception area and a disabled gate control. To limit access to certain floors, the lifts would be integrated into the access control system. For example, access cards for employees of the incumbent tenant on the fifth floor would only enable them to access that floor.

Access to the retail units would be through the stores’ main entrances or through the loading bays, and therefore access control cards would not need to be issued to the retail staff. However, the entrances would be alarmed and also connected to cameras so that, in the event of a trigger, an alarm notification would appear on the WIN-PAK control screen, enabling secur-ity staff to identify the location of the alarm and view images on the camera monitoring that area via the Fusion DVR.

The complete solution would then be monitored and controlled from the Building Management Solutions (BMS) room using Computer Aided Design (CAD) floor plans and N1000 controllers.

The access system control project was carried out under exceptionally strict and tight deadlines, demanding the highest flexibility from WOT Security. To ensure a successful implementation, the system was tested and pre-configured as much as possible off-site ahead of the final installation.

Paul Morris, MD of WOT Security, says: “Due to our confidence in the Honeywell solution we were certain that we would be able to deliver within the specified timeframe plus be flexible enough to make changes on the fly.”

The installation was seamless, the system was delivered on time, and the 530 members of staff were issued with security badges, giving them access to their new office.

Benefits achieved

The Warwick Street office is a showcase building, demonstrating the complete range of services which King Sturge is able to offer its own clients, and of course that includes the security system.

“The Honeywell solution installed is incredibly flexible,” concludes Louise Polledri, “for example enabling each of the individual units and the fifth-floor tenant to have visibility to activity within common areas of the building and, with the use of a DVR, to record this activity. This flexibility also supports any growth or further divisions of the building which can be easily accommodated by WIN-PAK.”

The smart functionality of the OmniClass access cards issued to staff is already in use on King Sturge’s printers – users can request a document print-out but in order to receive it they must swipe their access card at the printer, ensuring confidential print-outs do not get printed and left lying around. The smartcards can also be used for cashless vending.

King Sturge is purely tenanting the building and therefore it has a reinstatement liability within its tenancy agreement meaning that, on completion of the lease, it has a responsibility to return the building to its original state. Thanks to its investment in a demonstrably successful security system there may not be a requirement to remove the system, thus ensuring a future saving.

The products

• Honeywell WIN-PAK Pro

• OmniClass smartcards

• N1000 III & IV controllers

• Honeywell Omniclass cards with unencoded magstripe

• N1000 control panels

• Fusion II 16-channel 500 Gb DVR

• Honeywell OmniClass readers

• Magicard Rio printer with MagStripe encoder

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