Axis tailored surveillance solutions for Brazil luxury venture

Luxury venture in southern Brazil uses high-quality images to provide customers with security inside the building and in the parking lot.

Mission
Security is a major concern among shopping center patrons in Brazil, yet camera quality is not always up to the task of meeting these needs. When designing Patio Batel, an upscale shopping center in Curitiba, in the state of Parana, the Soifer Group opted for high-reliability cameras with good image quality.

Solution
Jugend, a consultant with extensive experience in shopping centers that has worked with Axis Communications on various projects, approved the installation of Axis equipment at Patio Batel. All three lines of Axis cameras were involved in the installation, from the most affordable to the highest performers – a total of 320 cameras and 14 different models. Important parts of the setup include the AXIS P3346-VE and AXIS P1346-E Network Cameras, offering Full HD image quality and advanced iris control. XProtectR Corporate software, from Axis partner Milestone, was chosen for image management.

Result
The choice of Axis equipment offers the shopping center operators increased reliability of their video surveillance system, in terms of both image display and storage. The peace of mind for this critical operation means a greater sense of security for shop owners and mall customers.

Parking facilities
Patio Batel is a large-scale development. Occupying 20,450 m2 of land, it houses 200 operations, in addition to 4 anchor stores. There are countless accesses, with various forms of internal circulation, involving 7 elevators and 32 escalators. This meant that even the very architecture of the shopping center was a challenge in terms of integration. The most critical areas were the vehicle entry and exit points, where the shopping center needed superb image quality in order to monitor access to its five-level garage with 2,300 covered spaces. These accesses were a concern because one of them faces Avenida do Batel, a roadway with high vehicle traffic that could not tolerate traffic jams at the mall entrance blocking the roadway. The other access, off Rua Hermes Fontes, experiences very bright sunlight at certain times of the day. This bright light can be blocked abruptly when a car passes by – a common situation in many parking lots. “The challenge was to use one camera with very fast light compensation speed. Based on a study conducted in conjunction with Axis, we decided on the AXIS P1346-E Network Camera. The camera handles light compensation using software, and it proved to be the best choice,” says Eduardo Wojciechowski, project manager at Axis's consulting partner Jugend. But this is not the only model used for vehicle access control. “We chose to work with several models of strategically positioned cameras, achieving complete coverage and ensuring quick staff response when needed.”

Variety of spaces
Shopping centers have specific surveillance needs. The heavy influx of people must be monitored from the moment they arrive, either by car or by pedestrian access. With a high volume of data traveling on the network, good database management is a necessity, and above all, fast and efficient video information search capabilities. The Patio Batel shopping center handles all this through cutting-edge solutions.
There are cameras covering the main entrance, technical areas, the food court, and access to ancillary areas such as bathrooms, baby changing facilities, the “teen space,” senior bathrooms, the information desk, and more. Some of the M-line models used include AXIS M3204 and AXIS M3014. From the P-line, the solution uses AXIS P3344, AXIS P3346-VE and AXIS P1346-E. AXIS Q6034-E Network Cameras from the Q-line were also installed. “The correct placement of each camera contributed to the creation of an efficient design,” says Cristiano de Morais Lima, for Patio Batel.

Milestone's XProtectR Corporate platform was selected to manage all 320 cameras. “Only major video management and storage solutions can offer this kind of reliability and efficiency in a system like this one,” notes Giovanni Ferraz, Channel Business Manager – Brazil at Milestone. The video wall located in the control room uses the XProtect Smart Wall Base License specifically. The shopping center's network assets are balanced for optimal performance of the video surveillance systems, with scalable redundant uplink throughput. “The right specifications for products such as cameras, switches and storage arrays required extensive deployment studies,” acknowledges Cristiano de Morais. Bandwidth was carefully defined, from the camera through storage, making Patio Batel an example for other newly built or expanding shopping centers.