Luxury Apartment Towers Secured With Sargent Locks
Located at 100 Grand Avenue in Oakland, CA, The Grand opened in February 2010 after almost three years in construction and features 236 luxury apartments in an impressive 25-story, 311,000 square foot structure, making it the city's tallest building. The Grand's web site describes it as Oakland's only "ultra-luxe rental homes experience," and its amenities do nothing to dispel that description: concierge service, 24/7 fitness studio, a full business center and Wifi in all common areas, as well as 8000 square feet of retail space. Breathtaking views of Lake Merritt, as well as carefully crafted landscaping, enhance the building's charm.
Of course, a high level of luxury that is not accompanied by an equally high level of security is no bargain. According to Tony King, maintenance supervisor for The Grand, it is the very profile of the building's tenants that necessitated the property to offer a solid security scheme.
"The residents of our property are different than most tenants," said King. "They are not seeking an everyday living experience. They demand something out of the ordinary. As a result, they expect the best of everything, including their security."
Consequently, back in 2007, when Architecture International was beginning to draw up plans for the project, one of the companies that developer Essex Property Trust Inc. identified was Sargent Manufacturing company..
Essex's development group asked Bahri Ozaslan, the chief architect for The Grand, to specify Sargent locks on the project. He did just that, calling for Sargent on all of the door locks, interior and exterior. That encompassed the doors on all 236 apartments, 75 storage rooms, and 16 exterior doors. The three large retail suites on the ground floor are also protected by Sargent products. The locks were installed in 2009 as interior construction was well under way.
Even though the locks and exit devices are commercial quality, Essex wanted to make sure that the hardware should not have a commercial look and feel. Consequently, the hardware used was chosen as much for its aesthetics as its functionality.
On the front doors of each apartment, MG designer levers were used throughout the facility on 7900 Series mortise locks, DL tubular locks and 80 Series exit devices. The MG levers are part of the Sargent Studio Collection, offering 36 high-style levers that can be used on mortise locks, tubular locks, exit devices and access control products to provide a continuum of design regardless of the lock type chosen.
Sargent 80 Series exit devices, which offer easy installation and a maintenance-free design, were used on the building's exterior doors. DL Series Tubular Locks were used on all interior apartment doors (bathrooms, bedrooms, etc.). And Sargent 80 Series with Electric Latch Retraction (ELR) exit devices - non-handed devices which are ideal for high-traffic egress doors that require access control - were used on the large doors in the main lobby area. Once retracted, the door functions in a push/pull manner and delivers quiet, smooth operation.
Exclusively Doors of San Rafael provided all of the doors, including Maiman Thermal-fused doors, Graham wood doors and Adams Rite RITE Doors® (all are ASSA ABLOY Group brands). The Maiman doors were used for unit entry, with different shades of maple alternating per floor. Exclusively Doors also performed the actual installation of all the locks and associated hardware. What made things even more convenient is that Essex didn't have to buy left-handed or right-handed versions; the locks were easily adapted for either side.
The sleek appearance of the locks provided the kind of eye-catching appeal that the project demanded. Plus, by putting MG levers on all of the Sargent hardware, Essex was able to maintain a sense of design continuity throughout the project.
King received a firsthand lesson in the locks' toughness."We had one apartment where we couldn't get the door open," he recalled. "So we tried to get through the actual key part of the lock. We tried everything to pull the lock apart, but we just couldn't do it. The resident of that apartment saw all this and told me how safe she felt knowing we couldn't get through her door."
All in all, King said that the Sargent locks - this is his first experience with the company's products - has exceeded his expectations. "I've been in this business for about 27 years, so I have as much experience as anyone," said King. "I would say that Sargent is the best lock I've ever used”
Schlage AD-Series Wireless Gate Kit Eliminates Costly Trenching
The new Schlage GCK400 Wireless Gate Kit leverages existing access control systems to gate entrances while saving thousands of dollars per gate in trenching costs. Because of the expenses in digging trenches and laying cable to their perimeter gates, many companies are not able to use their access cards for parking lots or are forced to use a standalone system at the gates, inhibiting real time access control throughout the facility and grounds.
“Gates are a prime location for wireless systems,” explains Sean Leonard, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies portfolio marketing director. “The GCK400 Wireless Gate Kit works in tandem with any access control system to provide up to 4,000 feet of clear line of site access control, eliminating the problems and costs of digging trenches to lay cable.”
According to Leonard, with no trenches to dig or wire to pull, a wireless gate access control solution takes just 45 minutes to install versus a day or more with a hardwired system, saving a lot in labor costs and freeing up budget to even further extend the organization’s card access control system.
The kit, which includes the panel interface module (PIM), wireless reader interface, antenna, 12 VDC transformer and grounding, makes installation easy. Once the card is read at the reader, data goes directly in real time to the access control system for a decision on whether to allow entry or not.
The new GCK400 Wireless Gate Kit is available now.
Free Software Update: RW4 Plus and Ilco EZ®-Clone Plus
Kaba Ilco Corp. announces a free software update for RW4 Plus and Ilco EZ®-Clone Plus Cloning Devices that enables the machines to clone Philips (ID46) transponders on vehicles when only one LED is illuminated on the Snoop.
This free update(SW version 02.00.056) will be available to owners on CD or by download (username and password protected). A username and password and the download link will be provided once owner equipment has been verified.
If a CD is preferred, please indicate this in the email.
To request the fee update, e-mail the following information to [email protected]:
Company Name
Contact Name
Address
Valid email address
Machine Type (RW4 Plus or Ilco EZ®-Clone Plus)
Machine Serial Number
Owners who have registered their equipment, and provided a valid email address, were notified via email on June 21, 2011. Kaba Ilco encourages owners to register their key machines, cloning and programming tools in order to receive update information direct from Kaba Ilco Corp.
