Once an underused industrial wasteland, King’s Cross is one of the largest and most exciting redevelopments in London.
Once an underused industrial wasteland, King’s Cross is one of the largest and most exciting redevelopments in London. The 67-acre site is being transformed into a new part of the city with homes, shops, offices, galleries, bars, restaurants, schools, and a university.
The public areas and many of the buildings in the estate are managed and maintained by the King’s Cross Estate Services team. They are tasked with keeping the site well-maintained, well-lit and secure at all hours of the day and night, making it a place all people want to visit and enjoy.
To help make King’s Cross the best managed estate in the UK, the team needed a security solution that could evolve alongside them as the estate grows. Security system design specialist at King’s Cross Estates Nick Killington says
Gallagher was the specified solution throughout the project.
“As we are such a large estate, we require an enterprise solution that offers us the ability to extend as and when required, something we know is a particular strength of the Gallagher system.”
“We also like the flexibility that the Gallagher security solution gives us. We can integrate with a number of other systems, such as video, visitor management and elevators, as well as being able to add functionality like mobile access when we require it.”
The King’s Cross development is a mixture of old and new buildings, and many of the old buildings are listed with strict planning restrictions. “Some of the buildings here have played a significant part in the area's history, so extra care needs to be taken when installing a security system,” says Nick.
“The Gallagher solution is particularly useful in a retrofit situation like this, where running cables and network points in such buildings aren’t allowed. For example, we eventually want to replace some of the doors handles with a wireless locking system, which we know can also be linked to the Gallagher system.”
Gallagher technology will continue to feature across the new phases of the King’s Cross development, providing integrated, scalable security solutions to help create a welcoming, secure place for people to work, live and do business in this whole new part of London.