Comelit selected by the Berkeley Group for luxury Kew Bridge West development

10 Dec 2014

Comelit UK, part of the global Comelit manufacturing group, has provided over 250 monitors and 23 entrance panels for a new development in Richmond, southwest London. Kew Bridge West was designed by award-­winning RIBA architects, Assael Architecture, and comprises a mix of high-­end apartments and affordable accommodation.

Occupiers at this chic residential development will not only benefit from having an elegant and feature-­rich monitor in each apartment, but will also enjoy a host of other useful functions that are available with Comelit’s market-­leading IP technology, ViP. The site developer, St James PLC (one of the brands under Berkeley Group Holdings), tasked Comelit with delivering a high-­performance and reliable system that would offer years of low-­maintenance use. The development comprises nine individual blocks, featuring a mix of luxury apartments and affordable housing, all linked on one site-­wide IP platform. The residents will have access to a shared Central Porter Switchboard, which allows the concierge to contact and be contacted by all of the apartments, as well as the entrance panels. Residents are also able to communicate and receive text and image messages from the concierge. Video messages can also be left at the entrance station for the residents.

Huge advantages of using IP-­based technology

Commenting on the delivery of the project, Justin Hawkesford, Comelit’s Technical Manager and in-­house IP specialist, said, “This was a fabulous opportunity for Comelit to showcase its range of stylish monitors and at the same time demonstrate the huge advantages of using IP-­‐based technology, as opposed to analogue. The system at Kew Bridge West has been designed with the future in mind. Apartment Gateways can be added at a later date which would enable the residents to be ‘present’ at all times without physically being onsite. Useful functions allowing them to communicate with the concierge and visitors, being able to grant them access from anywhere in the world using a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer, has certainly revolutionised the world of door entry.”

Hawkesford commented further, “System Management Software that also allows the concierge or operator to remotely programme the system, perform diagnostics and communicate directly with users via text or image message, will be of huge benefit to the maintenance company looking after the site and will inevitably keep running costs down. The system health-­‐check helps streamline the maintenance process and means that any system faults can be identified quickly and measures taken to fix any issues, without the need to go onsite.”

Flexible range of monitors to suit all budgets and specifications 

In terms of external entrance panels, 23 are divided between the 9 individual blocks and are all linked back to the concierge. As with all new residential developments, a certain amount of affordable housing needed to be built. For this reason, a range of entry-­level monitors was also installed. For these apartments, Comelit supplied its EasyCom audio units, which offer full duplex hands-­free intercom with electronic calling, call volume adjustment, loudspeaker volume adjustment and privacy of conversation. For the private apartments, 251 flush-­mounted white Planux monitors (fitted with “sensitive touch” technology, hands-­ free function, audio, ringtone, colour and contrast adjustment) were installed. All devices work seamlessly on ViP and demonstrate Comelit’s dedication to providing a comprehensive and flexible range of monitors to suit all budgets and specifications.