UNIVERSITY OF HULL

The student blocks are arranged as apartments with shared living space and private en-suite bathrooms. Refurbishment contractor, Harris Evolution, devised a security strategy with a hierarchy of key control. The locks fitted needed a single key to open both the apartment door and each student’s study bedroom, while preventing access to each apartment from others in the block and access to each en-suite room from others in their apartment. At the same time, the locking strategy needed to allow the estates department to gain emergency and maintenance access without the nuisance of a duplicate key for every lock, so a single master key for authorised access to any apartment or student room was also an essential part of the brief. Harris Evolution turned to hardware specialist, Miles Architectural Ironmongery Ltd, to commission the locks and keys from Locking Systems.

Ensuring the lock barrels were compatible with the existing lock cases, Locking Systems designed each of the 700 lock cylinders with individual pin configurations. This enables a single key to open both the apartment and private study bedroom door, with just 8 master keys to operate all locks across the blocks. The lock barrels were manufactured at the company’s factory in Gateshead, with the pinning for each lock carried out by hand and the keys machine-cut for precision accuracy, smooth operation and reliable security. Two keys were provided for each lock and, as part of the security strategy, patent protected keys were supplied to prevent unauthorised duplication at a high street provider, safeguarding against sub-letting, non-paying additional tenants and theft. In addition, a number of additional master-keyed cylinder locks, for loft hatches and electrical cupboards, were provided with a single master key and all locks and keys were produced aligned to the installation schedule for the phased refurbishment.