The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is equipped with Axis cameras to protect against acts of vandalism, theft and defacement.
Mission
The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany has been listed as a historic monument since 1862 — for the city of Nantes, France, it is a landmark of its urban heritage. Every year, it receives 1.4 million visitors, which amounts to double the population of Nantes itself. The castle welcomes visitors 7 days a week, 361 days a year. It is in this context that metropolitan Nantes and the tourism organization “Le voyage à Nantes” issued a call for bids to renovate their video protection system to protect both the building and the artworks inside.
Solution
The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany was moving its camera system from analog to IP.
Axis cameras won them over with their image quality and technical strength in any weather conditions, day and night. They went with a solution proposed by Cojitech made up of Axis cameras and a supervision solution from CASD. The intelligent cameras have image processing algorithms coupled with loudspeakers to achieve a complete prevention and security solution.
Result
The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany benefits from a system of 150 cameras that respects the framework imposed by the architect of Monuments of France. Thus, the castle’s surroundings and the artworks are protected from theft and vandalism. The products and systems proposed by Axis and its partners complement each other, and an audio signal is automatically triggered when someone gets too close to one of the artworks. This solution comes with video interpolation and now prevents many violations.
Full protection of artworks and buildings
Owned by metropolitan Nantes and managed by Le voyage à Nantes, the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is a landmark of the city’s heritage. The site was designated as a Historic Monument in 1862 and requires video protection equipment that matches its majesty — a suitable system of video surveillance cameras that allow full protection against vandalism, theft and defacement of the artworks as well as the building itself.
The solution proposed by Cojitech, made up of Axis cameras and a supervision solution from CASD, met with unanimous approval.
Each year, the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany welcomes 1.4 million visitors, which is double the population of metropolitan Nantes. To receive the public in complete safety 7 days a week, 361 days a year, the castle had to renovate its video protection system. To do this, metropolitan Nantes and Le voyage à Nantes issued a tender in 2015.
Actilogie Consultants ran the audit, drew up the specification book, and monitored the work. The obligation was twofold, because they had to consider the difficulty of integrating the terrain and observe the framework imposed by the architect of Monuments of France, who was to approve the installation.
Replacing analog cameras
Another challenge was replacing the video protection equipment, which at the time consisted completely of analog cameras. This also involved removing the existing coaxial cables to route the IP necessary for installing the Axis cameras. This meant replacement of 100 analog cameras, plus adding 50 more.
The cameras were situated outside the building (to prevent vandalism to the castle’s ramparts, in the moats and in the courtyard) and on the inside (to monitor the works of art installed in temporary exhibitions).
The Axis cameras immediately won the support of decision-makers, because they work well in all weather conditions and day or night, making them absolutely cutting-edge. Not only that, but they allow excellent image quality and are equipped with image processing algorithms. So, for example, an audio signal is automatically triggered on site and at PC Sécurité anytime a visitor gets too close to certain artworks. Moreover, adding loudspeakers along with the cameras provides video interpolation and prevents many violations. Integrating this new system took almost a year of work.
“The collaboration with Le voyage à Nantes, Actilogie Consulting, Pericolo architectural consultants, and metropolitan Nantes Métropole went off very well during this operation. The Axis cameras proved their extreme quality once again. This major operation in the heart of the city of Nantes is a showcase for our expertise in integrating security systems and of the quality of the solutions we deploy,” enthuses Jacky Saget, Director of Cojitech, Axis integration partner in Loire-Atlantique.