Modernised and smart protection for University of Leeds
The university needed to modernise, upgrade and streamline security systems across the campus.
Education - Leeds
Account manager - Eamonn O'Doherty
System installed - IP CCTV System
Details - Installing an IP CCTV system whilst the Sir William Henry Bragg building was undergoing a major, £96m development.
Located on the north east quarter of the campus, the new £96m, 15,700m2 building will create an integrated campus for the disciplines of Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, and Computing, along with the provision of critical central teaching and social interaction spaces.
Working closely with the Principle Contractor, BAM Construction, we were briefed to design and install an IP CCTV system that would deliver smart protection for the university building now, and also future-proof it in order to adapt to potential security challenges. All of this needed to be completed internally and externally whilst the development was undergoing its major build phase.
As this was partly a new-build which needed to keep the graded Old Mining Building as the façade of the new structure, we had had to engage with and develop a strong, collaborative relationship with BAM Construction and the other contractors.
When it comes to security, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why every aspect of our design was built with the end-user facilities managers and their security teams in mind, alongside the safety and security of the building's visitors.
Our design team facilitated a customer-led approach, developing a system that would work both day-to-day and from a long-term operational strategy perspective.
By installing IP CCTV, we helped the university to minimise costs and improve efficiencies, without impacting protection.
Our digital transformation experts helped produce sustained cost-savings and operational efficiencies by creating a digital ecosystem of smart, integrated technologies and systems that better protect people, places and spaces.
To keep the project running smoothly we produced a full Risk Assessment and Method Statement for this major project, continually updating it as our work progressed. As this project was ongoing throughout the COVID pandemic, working practices had to be adapted. Our close working relationship with BAM allowed us to jointly act in order to protect staff and other operatives on site.
From an environmental and sustainability standpoint, we carefully planned our engineers' time efficiently, helping to reduce return visits and cut down on the miles travelled to site. We also coordinated on the delivery of our equipment so as to reduce packaging onsite, receiving all items into our Leeds stores before this was taken to our onsite storage, helping to make recycling much easier and more achievable.
We designed and installed a 100-camera IP CCTV system, covering the communal spaces and the external perimeter, plus high value areas. This was especially challenging where the older features of the building had been retained but modern architecture has been interwoven. Our system also protects the state-of-the-art basement 'clean room', achieving appropriate coverage whilst not clashing architecturally.
The system is able to supply local images to the building management suite and connects the essential key cameras for this quarter of the campus to the main security control room for incident management.