Ian Hoey, Sales & Marketing Director at Meesons discusses entrance and access solutions for unique building challenges.

Building journeys should be secure and accessible yet entirely instinctual for users.

True success is reaching the end point without hindrance, regardless of the barriers to people’s protection.

Complexities occur when buildings demand higher levels of security, resulting in the question: How do we ensure the right level of security at access points while reducing the adverse effects on design, throughput, and user experience?

Understanding your people

The first impression when entering a building can be crucial to those associated with it so understanding your people is crucial to creating a positive experience for building users.

Aspects such as the usability of the front entrance can be detrimental to establish new user confidence.

For example, if a front entrance is unclear on how to gain entry, it deters people from revisiting and may cause frustration.

Contrary to this, if it is too easy to get access, it may seem unsecure, leaving people with a feeling of unease. 

The facade of a building is the first impression that a building will receive and an entrance solution such as a revolving door has the potential to exude a high-end appearance.

Depending on the door’s width, the user would have a comfortable passage through which will give them a positive first impression to their surroundings.

Not only this, but a revolving door can help control the climate of the building as it prevents cold air getting in.

With this, once they’re in the reception, they’ll feel comfortable and welcome, setting up the next stages of the building journey well.

Reimagining the way people interact with spaces

To balance welcomeness with security, the way people interact with a building needs to be reimagined.

The front entrance should be simple to navigate but then be followed up with a layer of security within the reception that requires credentials for authorisation to go any further.

A solution to this is through a bank of speed gates within a reception area, visually showing how preventatives are being taken to stop unauthorised access.

Adding cantilever barrier work will enhance this even further as it will create a secure line.

The Bard offices in Shoreditch used Meesons EasyGate SPD-R Speed Gates as an unobtrusive physical security entrance to their lift lobby, adding in a cantilever barrier to fill gaps where people could attempt to gain access through.

By doing so, they had created an aesthetic secure line at the first internal entrance that is a subtle but powerful deterrent.

This resulted in creating a reception area that was simple to gain access to, as it is crucial to create a positive experience when people interact with spaces.

However, the discreet security solution is still able to demonstrate to customers how they are being protected from unauthorised access at the very first point of walking into the premises.   

Protecting your space

The journey through a building is shaped by the entrance solutions within a space.

They need to be secure but user-friendly, practical but aesthetic, reliable and adaptable.

For instance, people who work for banks that are situated in cities need to be able to enter the building with ease initially, followed by other entrances that have the appropriate level of security and integrations to support them and protect the space.

The first entrance to a bank’s infrastructure could be a revolving door, this straight away gives a luxurious and aesthetic appeal to those entering.

Following this, a bank of speed gates can enhance the next entrance, subtly blending in with the surroundings.

When Meesons supplied multiple layers of entrance security products to London Landmark Development, a financial organisation, 17 lanes of the EasyGate Elite Speed Gates were implemented across the two main entrances, facilitating a high number of people entering every day and protecting the space.

Not only does this entrance solution offer a sleek design that is appealing to visitors, but the dual wings also make for a comfortable passage.

In addition to this, Meesons worked closely with the client and IDEMIA (MorphoWave) to create a bespoke tower to house the compact and contactless biometric reader.

Having this in place ensured that people’s first internal entrance to this building was pleasant, aiding the overall experience. 

Redefining confidence

Further into a building-user’s journey throughout an infrastructure, they may be faced with higher level security entrances.

It’s essential that they also provide a seamless experience to authorised users while reassuring them that they’re safe, helping to redefine their confidence in where they are.

This has worked for The Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research facility which followed its speed gate secure line up with a secure line of cylindrical C2 and C3 Security Portals that enters the main research facility.

Due to the nature of a research facility being a higher risk to potential intruder threats, anti-social behaviour or protestors, it is vital to maintain appropriate security to this part of the building.

With Meesons cylindrical portals, the entrance solution caters to areas that require robust protection that still offers enhanced visibility.

Due to the transparent design of the C2 and C3 Security Portal, security staff have a clear view into the secure area.

By putting the security portals in place, the building users’ journey can take place at any time of the day safely, to benefit their own work schedule.

This type of entrance used in the Francis Crick Institute can significantly affect how staff and visitors feel about their journey through the building due to the sense of safety and convenience offered with the anti-tailgating and high-security solution. 

Factors including aesthetics, ease of use and the sense of safety all build on a building-users experience of a facility.

It determines how they remember their journey on whether it was pleasant or stressful, or perhaps if it made them feel safe or welcome.

Redefining people’s confidence is also important for buildings that they may be more cautious of entering in case they’ve had previously bad experiences.

Unique market challenges

Different sectors have unique market demands, determining the experience that is created by entrance solutions.

Taking Critical National Infrastructure as an example, the entrance solutions in place of them must allow operation 24/7, 365 days a year, without interruption.

This means that their entrance solutions have to offer the utmost reliability for buildings while being simple to navigate so that anyone authorised can access when needed without causing a hinderance to the building’s journey.

On top of this, they require protection from a range of physical and cyber-attacks, and natural disasters therefore multiple entrance security layers would be put in place.

This would affect a person’s journey throughout a building as they’d be required to put credentials in to access certain areas, making it a slower process.

However, without these layers in place, the building-user would be unprotected and most likely feel unsafe. Meesons often provides high-security doors to those in the Critical National Infrastructure sector with the appropriate security ratings on them to ensure ultimate reliability.

This includes the LPS1175 security portal range and security revolving door, our NPSA rated portal, and the fire-resistant portals.

In comparison, the higher education sector has very different market demands to critical national infrastructure.

For example, their entrance solutions must be extremely robust to prevent students attempting to barge through therefore a high holding force for the solution is a higher demand to them.

When providing an entrance solution to the student accommodation facility, Chapter Aldgate, Meesons supplied the EasyGate SPD Speed Gates.

They made an appropriate solution due to the 650N holding force that would withstand students pushing.

For banking and finance sectors, their highest market demands can lie in the way the visitor management systems work due to tracking activity throughout the facility, ensuring only those authorised can enter restricted areas.

This then affects staff and visitor’s journeys across the building due to how user-friendly the credential process is.

It’s essential to create a seamless experience with the entrance solutions and visitor management systems working together well to avoid delaying people to their intended destination or causing annoyance.

Overall, when creating a seamless journey within a financial building, its crucial for the entrance solutions to complement the existing systems in place.

Powering your business

Every building has a history or background that shapes the decisions that are made to create a user’s journey which helps to power a business’ reputation and operations.

Taking Liverpool’s iconic India Buildings as an example of this, they preserved its heritage features and complemented them with Meesons entrance solution speed gates that have a special powder coated heritage bronze that perfectly matches the reception desk, exemplifying the historical presence in the building while helping implement a smooth flow of people in and out.

Likewise, Louisa Ryland House in Birmingham entrance to the mixed-use offices has a white coating that matches the grand marble floors, complementing the high-end, luxury feel that the offices have created.

With integrations and customisations, you can design a bespoke entrance solution that affects the overall journey of a building to ultimately benefit the business.

Determining where the entrance solution will be, the level of security required for them, and what the user demands are for the product, you’re able to create a safe and seamless journey around the building.

The most secure companies use Meesons

Meesons is the entrance and access technology division of andwis helping leading organisations, design smarter, better-protected environments.

Since 1864, we have delivered entrance and access security solutions for forward-looking organisations seeking a building entrance solution adapted to their day-to-day operations.

This article was originally published in the May Edition of Security Journal United Kingdom. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.