Nicol Corner, in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa, is a 11-storey mixed-use commercial building and has approximately 22,000 sq/m floor area. It is estimated to have hundreds of people entering the building daily. The security requirements stipulated that the building managers needed an access control system that could manage hundreds of doors with frequent footfall and is scalable to expand when needed.
Other requirements included lift destination control to tailor access permissions to the office area, public access gym, the car park, and the restaurant. Furthermore, boom gates and an ANPR system were needed for parking entrances to streamline access for employees and visitors. The new access control system also needed to have the ability to integrate turnstiles and customer account management software for the top-rated fitness centre.
All of these requirements needed to be communicated and configured via an IP network, so the system administrators can remotely manage the site.
Paxton’s Net2 was recommended to the building manager at Nicol Corner due to its simplicity and ability to meet all requirements in the original brief. Intellisec was the security installation company that collaborated on the building project to provide the hardware installation while Nicol Corner’s IT technician configured the Net2 system according to their specific needs.
Net2 software offers centralised administration and management of sites with up to 1,000 doors and 50,000 users. It is also designed to easily integrate with many security systems, so end-users can enjoy more streamlined security for their building.
Due to Nicol Corner’s multi-purpose commercial use, it not only has employees coming and going, but also external gym members and visitors to its public facing restaurant. This means that lift destination control is important at Nicol Corner to ensure people are only given access to the floors for which they have permission.
The Net2 system has been integrated with KONE Lift Destination Control System. Employees and visitors present their keyfobs at the lift lobby, once their identities are verified in the Net2 system, the central lift system screen will only show the floors they have permission to access, and they will be able to choose a floor based on their Net2 security clearance.
The building’s fifth and sixth floors are occupied by the six-star gym. Turnstiles have been installed at the entrance and integrated into Net2 to manage access for employees who can enjoy the facility as a benefit and manage access of public gym members.
ANPR cameras have been integrated at all boom gates on the perimeter of the parking area to help speed up traffic flow and minimise bottlenecks for employees during peak hours. However, visitors are required to register at the gate to be issued a temporary token.
