ASSA ABLOY UK has supplied products to a student residence development currently being built for King’s College London. Champion Hill student accommodation is due to open for the autumn 2014-15 term. The development will provide rooms for up to 715 students and is being delivered to achieve BREEAM “Outstanding” sustainability standards. The students will have access to communal, social, recreation and study spaces within the refurbished Grade 2 listed building on the site.
Providing a full ironmongery specification from ASSA ABLOY, products from ASSA ABLOY, ASSA and UNION brands, as well as the Aperio range have been fitted throughout the building, providing access and security for the university students.
ASSA ABLOY Access Control’s innovative Aperio lock has been fitted on 2300 doorsets. The RFID wireless door control allowed for the upgrade of mechanical locks so that they could communicate with an access system. Aperio can be fitted without the need to modify any doors. The makers add that the product provides real time audits and updates of access restrictions through the access system.
A range of Optimus3 locks, StrongBOLT deadlocks and 1000 series furniture from UNION, have also been installed. Both the Optimus3 range and StrongBOLT deadlocks are tested as suitable for high frequency use, as in student accommodation, whilst the attractive stainless steel door furniture is in keeping with the project’s modern aesthetics.
ASSA’s electromagnetic hold open devices and ASSA ABLOY’s DC500A door controls were installed throughout the main corridors and student accesses to provide safe passage around the building, whilst assisting in meeting the requirements under the Equality Act and Approved Document M (ADM) of The Building Regulation. ASSA Flexcore Plus master key cylinders were also installed, providing a practical and cost effective way of maintaining accessibility, without compromising on security.
Nick O’Donnell, Deputy Director of Estates & Facilities and Director of Facilities at KCL, said: “We use ASSA ABLOY suited locks across the university on a quality basis, they are our first choice for reliability.”
Tabitha Morton, Sales Director at ASSA ABLOY Access Control concluded: “We have extensive knowledge of managing access control within educational premises, the Managing Director of ASSA ABLOY Access Control UK, Damian Marsh has written a white paper on the subject, which also discusses the changing nature of the school and university ‘ecosystem’. The features of Aperio make it a simple and intelligent way of upgrading the controllability and security level of any premises, whilst also solving key management issues.”
Allan Thomson, Commercial Manager for ASSA ABLOY Security Solutions, said: “Security at university accommodation must be very carefully considered as students today often own high value equipment and personal possessions. Students at London university campuses are statistically more likely to fall victim to crime, according to a data compiled from www.police.uk, so it is essential that the security ironmongery specification be in keeping with the high standard of technical specification throughout the building, to ensure the students are protected.
“It was exciting to be part of such a vast project, which required such a wide range of security solutions. This project was one of our largest ever, pure ironmongery orders, so we aimed to supply products that would provide ease of installation, we specified Optimus3 as it allows uniform door preparation, which has proven to be a particularly useful feature on other University projects.”
The white paper can be found at http://www.assaabloy.co.uk/PageFiles/1157632/AAAC_Education_White_Paper.pdf
