SecurityWorldMarket

07/07/2021

Humboldt Forum secures access with intelligent locking

London, UK and Berlin, Germany

Located at a historic location between Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz, the Humboldt Forum is a new cultural house in the historic and cultural heart of Berlin. After around nine years in construction the Forum now consists of over more than 42,000 square metres, delivering a modern cultural hub with presentations, exhibitions and events.   Such a diverse building requires an intelligent digital locking system, and the electronic Ecliq locking system from Assa Abloy Opening Solutions was selected for its ability to meet high security standards and offer not only contemporary management, but also full flexibility for targeted and convenient control of the Forum’s numerous different user and visitor groups.

The Humboldt Forum is named after the brothers Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt. Their curiosity and ability to explore the world with open eyes is the inspiration behind the artistic and scientific program. In addition to three core themes — history and architecture of the location, the Humboldt brothers, as well as colonialism and coloniality — current socio-political issues are also at the forefront.

The Humboldt Forum will also house the globally important collections of the Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) and the Asiatisches Museum (Museum of Asian Art) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums), the Humboldt Lab of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Humboldt University of Berlin) and the Berlin Global exhibition of the Stadtmuseum Berlin (Berlin City Museum).

The fact that the Forum's premises are used so differently and are accessed by many employees, service providers and numerous external visitors at different times, placed high demands on security technology for adequate protection of the building. A solution was required that not only offered a very high security standard, but also uncomplicated management of access authorizations.

Modern locking concept

The Forum commissioned Weckbacher Sicherheitssysteme GmbH for the challenging planning, delivery and installation of the project.  The digital Ecliq electronic locking system is distinguished by robust, durable and secure components, as well as its compact form and striking design. The keys and cylinders of the modular locking solution are perfectly compatible with the stringent design-oriented requirements and installation situations of the doors in the Humboldt Forum — and thus optimally integrate into its sophisticated new building concept.

The key factor, however, was that this locking system offers contemporary management with full flexibility. Regularly changing access authorisations can be quickly and easily defined with Ecliq, for example for changing exhibitions. Any keys that are lost or which people forget to return or knowingly do not return, can be deactivated just as easily via the system.

Authorisations with time and room restrictions can also be configured, allowing administrators to grant cleaning staff access at specific times, for example. The master key system can be managed directly by the Humboldt Forum via an easily scalable and flexible cloud-based platform administered by the Cliq Web Manager.

Strong partner for security

A total of around 1,500 intelligent programmable Ecliq locking cylinders were installed in the new structure, which, including its basement and roof terrace, has a total floor area of around 97,000 m2. In addition, 700 intelligent battery-powered keys are made available to the Humboldt Forum Foundation to enable all authorised persons to access the building.

"In this context, intelligent means that the keys used only close and open doors to which access is also programmed. Lost keys are simply deleted and new, customised access profiles are assigned. This means that security and locking convenience with the Ecliq master key system are state-of-the-art," explains Jannis Hlous, Project Manager at Weckbacher responsible for work on the Humboldt Forum. This traditional Dortmund company for locking systems has strong knowledge of public building projects at this scale and, as Assa Abloy's long-standing specialist partner, has over 70 years’ experience in security equipment for large building systems.


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