5 Dec 2008

Fastlane glasswing secures One Vine Street, London
Three lanes of Glasswing were installed giving the maximum number of lanes in the space available
Fastlane Glasswing speedgates are now securing One Vine Street, a Grade A office building developed by The Crown Estate on their Regent Street estate. Designed by Allies & Morrison and constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine, it provides 5092 sq m of new office accommodation arranged from first to fifth floors; 2,000 sq m of retail space on basement, ground and part first floor; and seven high quality penthouse duplexes on part fifth and sixth floors.

The new building has been erected behind part new and part retained facades. The prominent office entrance on the corner of Vine Street and Swallow Street opens into a generous reception area leading into a dramatic atrium that houses the passenger lifts and feature staircase. The office space is arranged around the central atrium and benefits from excellent daylight on all sides.

The building houses a variety of financial firms such as Matrix, Lloyds TSB and Generation (Al Gore's fund management business).

Fastlane plus barrier arm turnstiles were specified in the reception as the pedestrian control for the main reception area to limit access to the lifts and staircase. 

"The glass barriers are designed to work in a normally closed mode and retract inside the pedestal after a valid card has been presented to allow the authorised user to pass" 

Three lanes of Glasswing were installed giving the maximum number of lanes in the space available, this coupled with the fast throughput of one person per second allowed a fluid seamless flow of people through reception unhindered.

The Fastlane Glasswing uses an infrared beam matrix to distinguish between a person carrying a bag or suitcase, or even pulling a trolley and another person tailgating behind, which reduces false alarms dramatically and increases the premises security. The glass barriers are designed to work in a normally closed mode and retract inside the pedestal after a valid card has been presented to allow the authorised user to pass. The Glasswing utilises a unique 24-beam IR detection matrix designed to provide a superior level of security, throughput and safety. The Fastlane Glasswing can detect tailgaters as close together as 5 mm and the 8 dedicated safety beams are designed to ensure the barriers do not accidentally hit users.

The overall aesthetic appearance of the reception was very important to The Crown Estate. The Fastlane Glasswings were installed with white glass tops to match the clean look and feel of their surroundings, and the brushed stainless steel enclosures are in keeping with desired modern look.

Additionally a Fastlane Passgate was installed to allow visitors access to the building. Reception could press a button to open the glass panel in a fluid ‘door like' motion and let any visitors through, or personnel could present a valid card to the HID access system to gain entry.

"At IDL we've found that showing clients around our existing prestigious customer installations in London can be more beneficial than just a conversation and a quote, as the customer can see the units working in situ as they were designed to be," commented John Austin, IDL London Sales.