A Thames waterfront development in east London has been fitted with video door entry. The work, by fire alarm installation firm Firemain UK, was at Victory Place in Limehouse. The complex was built in 1996 and was one of the earliest developments in the Limehouse Basin. The various buildings are made up of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. Some overlook the Limehouse Cut, a canal which connects to the River Thames and Ropemakers Field, with Canary Wharf in the background. All of the apartments come with covered parking.
The door entry products come from Urmet: 12 Elekta Steel panels were fitted to the entrances of each block and to the main gated entrance. The entry panel has a one-piece stainless steel body with flush elements and LED-illuminated buttons. Featuring IK09 impact resistance and IP45 protection against dust and liquid ingress, the panel houses a 3.5-inch colour display, wide-angled camera and has a programmable block name feature. That means there is no need for the name of each building to be engraved.
The Elekta Steel panels have programmed voice announcements of ‘Call in progress’, ‘Please speak’ and ‘Door open’. They can also integrate access control systems using the proximity reader and coded keypad. These panels meet anti-disability discrimination (DDA) requirements.
Some 149 hands-free versions of Urmet’s colour Miro monitors were also fitted in the apartments. The monitors come in black or white finishes, and have a large 4.3-inch colour display and can be wall-, table- and flush-mounted. Besides video entry phone functions, they enable the monitoring and control of home automation and also support hearing-aid devices. A video concierge switchboard was also fitted at the site.
Urmet’s 2Voice range comprises two non-polarised wires around the system, offering time savings for installers, while wiring can be used in refurbishment projects.
Lee Kjelstrup, Project Engineer at Urmet UK, said: “Firemain UK is yet another company that enjoys the advantages of becoming a certified Urmet Pro Installer. Each engineer is trained and (re)certified on an annual basis, plus provided with a complimentary Android tablet with the 2Voice app loaded onto it. The 2Voice app makes it easy to make changes to the door entry system, simplifies installation and uses Bluetooth to transfer data. These features helped to ensure the smooth installation of this particular project.”
Colin Wilson, Director, at Firemain UK, added “We partner with Urmet on our door entry and access control projects because they offer a great product and the Pro Installer scheme ensures that our engineers have access to the 2Voice app which allows us to work more efficiently and simplifies installation. The installation on this contract of eleven blocks was extremely straightforward with only two wires connecting the entry panels and the apartment monitors, allowing us to reuse the existing cabling and save time on this part of the project.”
