Delta Park Industrial Estate, in Enfield, north west London has over 20 units, including warehouses, and logistics services. As firms use the area for a variety of purposes, making decisions that will work for the entire estate can prove a challenge.
A surveyor from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate company, contacted Jacksons Fencing, to ask about installing generic palisade fencing for Delta Park. Jacksons told the client that Jacksons doesn’t make or offer steel triple point palisade fencing because of its poor security performance. Wide pales can hamper surveillance, while the bolted construction is a security risk as simply removing or breaking the lower fixing on one or two pales would allow them to swing aside to give repeated access to the site; without leaving an easily visible sign that the perimeter had been breached.
Jacksons gave details and evidence to the surveyor showing palisade products’ unsuitability for the security desired. On reviewing how easy the specified palisade was to breach, the surveyor worked with Jacksons to select an alternative. Jacksons suggested its Barbican range as attractive looking and with a 25 year service life guarantee; the vertical bar design features a welded pale-through-rail construction method. Rather than being bolted together, the upright posts are sleeved through the horizontal rails and fully welded in place, for security.
After speaking with Jacksons, the surveyor and architect chose to break the original specification and opted for Barbican. The final decision included 215m of 2m high Barbican fencing, a manual Barbican single leaf swing gate, an automated Barbican single leaf gate, manual rising arm barriers and a pair of automated swing gates to control vehicular access lanes going in and out of the site. After winning the tender, preparing a final submission and waiting for planning permission, the installation took two months, carried out by Jacksons’ own installers.
Simon Folwell, Commercial Sales Deputy Team Leader at Jacksons Fencing, says: “Despite generic triple pointed palisade’s popularity and the widely held misconception that it can offer a perimeter security solution, it has inherent weaknesses that belie its capability. It’s a false economy. The initial lower price is offset by the costs and inconvenience incurred by repairs. Specifying a higher quality product that’s fit for purpose makes far more sense both in the short and long term and adds little to the initial cost.”
Visit www.jacksons-security.co.uk.
