In today’s schools, security for students and staff has become a top priority. Many schools now take advantage of the benefits of smart access control—keyless systems where electronic locks are accessed via a keycard, locking and unlocking can be automated and the whole system is centrally managed.
For architects, developers and designers involved in school projects – whether that’s a new build, a redesign or a refurbishment—smart access control is often a part of the brief, designed into the project from the get-go.
The benefits of a smart access-control system are many.
They:
Enable staff and students to move freely around the school whilst also ensuring that unwanted visitors cannot gain entry;
Allow for rapid lockdown in the case of an external threat, and fast evacuation if the risk is internal, such as a fire;
Help schools to hire out their facilities without compromising security or letting in unauthorised users;
Make school operations efficient, for example by automating the locking and unlocking of perimeter entrances;
Save money by eliminating manual keys and the overheads of managing them;
Provide valuable security data about who has accessed (or tried to access) which areas within the school.
For designers and architects there is another important consideration too—and that’s the way that the door furniture looks and how well it complements the design ethos of the facility.
Whether you’re working on a new build, or a project that includes retrofitting smart access control to an older, even heritage, building, it’s important to have a continuity of style, right down to the details.
Design was one of the factors in the decision to use SALTO electronic access control at Adelaide Botanic School.
Adelaide Botanic, South Australia’s first vertical high school, is a multi-award-winning design from Cox Architecture and DesignInc.
The school, which opened in 2019, combines a conversion of an existing facility [previously part of the University of South Australia] with a new building and an ‘active atrium’ joining the two.
SALTO was selected because it met all the functional requirements for security in the new school, along with the design ethos the architects were aiming for.
The Department for Education’s strategic manager of security and emergency management, George Dunleavy, said they were looking for an access-control solution that gave them the right combination of functionality and good looks.
>> Read the Adelaide Botanic story
In any electronic access control project, especially for a public building, you’re looking for longevity, and protection of assets and investment.
Finding that magic combination of functionality and design helps to drive those long-term benefits.
When Adelaide Botanic opened in 2019, they had just two year groups but at full capacity will have 1250 students.
They knew they needed an electronic access-control system that would grow with them, not restrict them and look as good when the school reaches capacity as it did on day one.
“We couldn’t predict how the school would eventually use some of these spaces because they had never been used before. But we know we will be able to adapt our SALTO System,” Dunleavy said.
Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne could not be more different than Adelaide Botanic—it is over 120 years old, with a mix of new and old buildings, across a very widespread campus.
But it shares the same need for security mixed with style and took the decision over 10 years ago to invest in SALTO for electronic access control.
Trinity Grammar has seen firsthand the benefits of choosing a system designed for longevity, scalability and expansion.
The school’s director of business, Mark Glover, said he was delighted to “inherit” the SALTO system when he joined the school.
“One of the benefits of coming to Trinity and finding SALTO in the school is that it makes things so much easier to manage.”
Mark was able to expand the functionality of the SALTO system, using the automation feature to lock and unlock all the gates to a schedule.
He plans to also implement the lockdown and rapid-evacuation functions that SALTO offers.
So whether you’re designing a school for the future, or working with a school with a past, SALTO offers the perfect blend of functionality and design to give you a long-lasting access control solution that will offer a strong return on investment.
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