MRC350 helps Gunnebo improve visitor experience at the shard

The Gunnebo Security Group is a global company in security products, services and solutions. With sales companies in over 33 countries, their turnstiles and gates are frequently used in entrance security to regulate and control the flow of people into and out of public and commercial buildings, as well as industrial and high-risk sites. 

The challenge

Standing at 87 storeys high, the architecturally distinctive Shard building with its crystalline facade houses a mixture of high end office spaces, restaurants, apartments, a five-star hotel and a public viewing platform. The challenge was to secure the entrance with a system that had a modern and elegant design to complement the building while being 100% effective at preventing unauthorised access.

The solution

Gunnebo was able to provide a combination of slimmed-down high speed gates and half-height turnstiles controlled with Nortech’s MRC350, a motorised card capture reader that is designed for use at entrances and exits. Compatible with Gunnebo access control systems and turnstiles, the MRC350 units enable high speed flow of staff and visitors.

The sleek and stylish nature of the SpeedStile FL range was a great fit with the synergy with the beauty of the Shard building. This was a key deciding factor on Gunnebo's SpeedStile FL products being chosen for this project.

The benefits

• Cost saving by reduced need to replace unreturned cards
• Avoids the need for dedicated visitor turnstiles or gates
• Intelligent 'Capture or Return' mechanism enables the same reader to be used for both staff and visitors
• Can be used to read any ISO proximity or smart cards, using integrated third party readers
• Avoids bottlenecks at entry and exit points

Customer's comments

“The integration allowed us to provide the Shard with a stylish, efficient and secure access control solution, which eliminated bottlenecks whilst maintaining the flow of visitors and staff. We are very pleased with the result.”