Cape Town City Hall
Net2 Provides High Security Solution to Historic City Hall in Cape Town
Built in 1905, the Cape Town City Hall is one of the oldest and most central public spaces in the city. It is also where Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected President of South Africa, made his first public speech only hours after his release from prison in 1990.
The City Hall is now used as a venue for South African parliamentary conferences and many cultural and social events, namely the Budget Speech, the State of the Nation Address, concerts of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, and Cape Town’s annual Festive Lights Switch-On event.
The three-storey building has 10 halls and rooms that are open for public bookings. The Grand Hall was designed to hold musical festivals, banquets, and balls, and has a seating capacity of 953.
Requirement
Regend Services (Pty) Ltd, who specialise in electronic access control and public address systems, have been responsible for the access control system at Cape Town City Hall for 15 years.
Darren Booth, Project Management at Regend Services said: “Due to the high public footfall and various private functions, the Facility Manager at the City Hall required a high-security system that could secure various key entry points and tailor different user access levels.”
Ebrahim Meyer, Cape City Hall Facility Manager, wanted to keep the existing card readers that were installed on site, so system integration was also a key requirement.
Regend Services recommended Paxton’s Net2 access control system, which offers centralised site administration and the flexibility to integrate with a range of other security systems to provide more streamlined security.
Net2 is really user-friendly and worth all the investment.
– Ebrahim Meyer, Facility Manager at Cape Town City Hall
Solution
Net2 is now used to secure the building, easily tailoring access permissions for private and public events to help ensure the security of individuals and assets using the smart features of Paxton’s access control system.
Darren said: “Net2 is exceptionally user-friendly, providing an intuitive system for the staff at the City Hall to use. It can also easily integrate with existing infrastructure and systems, saving costs for our client and aiding in a simple installation.”
Net2 is integrated with the existing CDVI readers on site, allowing staff to continue using their existing key fobs and access cards. The lift is also integrated into Net2 so that users are only able to access specific floors depending on their roles.
For higher security areas, additional features of Net2 have been implemented to prevent unauthorised access. Darren explains: “For example, the Strategic Asset team are the only users with access permissions for their office, for the protection of confidential documents. They also use Net2’s Triggers and Actions feature to require users to present a valid token twice before gaining access through a door, further minimising the chance of unauthorised entry.”
The Security Lockdown feature has been setup to secure the building in an emergency. Darren said: “This allows the team to react quickly to help ensure the safety of members of The State at parliamentary events.”
The Net2 system also offers the facility management team the convenience of having unlimited system administrator accounts on multiple PCs.
Darren said: “The administrator accounts are set at different operator levels. This gives authorised staff the ability to perform actions like adding or removing users, while keeping higher-security features, such as building lockdown, to management personnel.”
Result
The Regend Services team provided training to the staff at the City Hall, so they can navigate the system easily.
Since having Net2 in place, Ebrahim Meyer is happy with the simple-yet-high-security Net2 system.
In his role as Facility Manager at Cape Town City Hall, Ebrahim concludes: “Net2 is really user-friendly and worth all the investment. We are looking forward to having the same system installed at our cultural heritage site, the Old Granary building in Buitenkant Street.”
Location:
Cape Town, South Africa
Type of site:
Public sector & Entertainment
Number of users/doors:
- 140 users
- 23 doors
Products:
- Net2 Plus – 1 door controller
- Net2 – I/O board
Requirements:
- Permanent and temporary user access permissions
- Tailored entry point access permissions for public and private functions
- Simple and quick higher security lockdown for an emergency
- Can integrate with existing infrastructure and system
Solution:
- Separate entry points for public and private functions
- Protect high-profile individuals at public parliamentary events
- Integrate with third party readers and existing lifts
Integrations:
- CDVI readers
- Lift integration
