Harrods Village is a gated development beside the Thames, in Barnes, London SW13. It sought work on door entry, access control and CCTV systems.
Interphone won a contract for scheduled maintenance, emergency call outs and parts. The company did a site survey and proposed to replace, upgrade, or maintain the problem systems. Its engineers over two weeks traced faults and identified where some ageing systems could be prolonged. One apartment building’s door entry needed an upgrade due to a lack of available parts. Hence the install of monitors in 63 flats and two entrance panels for access control.
As for cabling, Interphone installed a fibre network to connect buildings and gatehouse, and support IP cameras. Some 32 cameras were initially fitted; ‘trip wires’ provide alerts to the gatehouse of any prohibited access over external walls. More cameras are planned to monitor entrances. Parking for staff and residents is limited; hence automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at gates, which allows specified time slots for visitors.
Eve Pickering, Estate Manager at the Village, says: “We have worked closely with Interphone to overcome many of the technology challenges we faced. Our previous maintenance relationship was under-performing, so we needed a new partnership approach that operated in the timeliest and cost-effective manner possible. Interphone’s ability to understand our requirements and budgets has enabled us to proceed with much needed and long-awaited security system upgrades.”
She added: “We now have an achievable plan, based on Interphone’s recommendations, that will effectively maintain our systems and target areas of improvement. The infrastructure is now in place to allow us to centralise our systems moving forward, utilise the latest security technology and create greater value for our residents. We have already made some giant strides increasing security across the Estate and providing our onsite team with the tools they need.”
The Village is named after the department store; it was once the retailer’s repository for furniture. Visit http://harrodsvillage.org/.
