International Scottish swim centre selects SALTO for access control

Scotland’s newest international sporting facility, the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow, has installed SALTO RFID electronic locks to provide a state-of-the-art access control solution as part of its overall security package.

The centre has just re-opened its doors to the public after a £13.8million refurbishment to make it ready to host the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The 2015 IPC World Swimming Championships have also been awarded to the venue and it is also at the heart of the city’s bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Now one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe, with its seating capacity doubled to 2,000 with a further 3,000 temporary seats to be added for the Games, plus a new-look 10-lane 50-metre competition pool and a completely new six-lane 50-metre warm-up pool, the 19-month construction project was funded by Glasgow City Council (£13.15 million) and sportscotland (£650,000).

As well as the pool improvements, Tollcross will also be a community facility. The fitness suite has been doubled in size to become one of the biggest and best equipped gyms in the city with 85 cardiovascular and strength conditioning stations, and a range of equipment is available for people with disabilities, including three hand cycles and six fixed resistance machines.

To handle security into and within the facility, Tollcross International Swimming Centre has deployed a  contactless RFID access control solution from SALTO Systems and fitted it to a variety of internal room and storeroom doors.

David Brown from Scotdor, SALTO’s local partner that won the contract and carried out the installation, comments “We fitted a range of standalone battery powered RFID products from SALTO’s XS4 and GEO range including 79 E9451 handle sets in a smart and practical stainless steel finish, 2 double sided XS4 units, 3 online doors and 3 GEO electronic cylinder controlled doors.

For the online doors, we were required to install a separate network from the main system to comply with the client’s requirements and the Data Protection Act not to transfer data for these doors across from the main network. This was no problem, and we were able to install and set up the controlling software for these doors completely to the client’s satisfaction.”

Brown continues “The centre has been very impressed with the technical ability of the products, in particular the ability to control access via the Mifare smart ID cards. Since most access related information is kept encrypted on these cards, the locks are able to update and receive information from the cards at any time. So not only is the system easy to use, but its functionality has practically all the benefits of a fully on line access control system at the cost of a standalone system.

The ‘smart’ access cards build up ‘on-card’ audit trails through normal use giving the centre complete control over access and enabling the movement of staff to be controlled and tracked if and as required. This enables a complete access profile of each individual to be established and updated as necessary as well as having the ability to see who accessed what door, where and when.

Cards can be programmed to allow access to specific rooms or areas within the centre for selected periods only, with the doors auto locking at pre-specified times as required. And if card security is breached due to the loss or theft of a card, it can be instantly deleted without the need or cost of rekeying or changing locks – saving the centre time and money.”

Andy Crichton, SALTO Sales Manager Scotland adds: “SALTO Systems are world leaders in advanced wireless access control solutions. We have vast experience of working with leisure facilities across the globe and understand the challenging security issues faced by these establishments.

We are pleased to have been able to work with the Tollcross International Swimming Centre to improve their security and provide a long-lasting, flexible solution to their access control needs. In particular, installing a Mifare based proximity smart card system operating on the SALTO XS4 and GEO platform means their security will not be compromised if a member of staff loses their key.”