ASSA ABLOY masters the art of security for gallery

ASSA ABLOY Security Doors, a UK division of ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in door opening solutions, has supplied the National Gallery of Ireland with security, ballistic and fire rated doorsets, for the refurbishment of a 150-year-old listed building.

The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin has had extensive refurbishment and modernisation of its historic wings on Merrion Square. The building also required an updated fire safety plan, from which followed the need to install new security and fire rated doorsets, complete with locking systems.

The extensive refurbishment came in at close to €30 million, in order to restore the building to its former glory and meet today’s high fire safety and security standards.

For this prestigious project, the doorsets were specified by Henegan Peng Architects and then ASSA ABLOY Security Doors worked closely with Modubuild, a specialist trade contractor, alongside main contractors John Paul Construction to fulfill the specification.

Approximately 30 steel doorsets, including a mixture of LPS 1175 security rating and fire rated glass doorsets, were delivered to the Dargan and Milltown Wings in Merrion Square in order to maintain maximum security as well as adhere to the strictest fire safety regulations.

Logistically, the delivery of the doorsets presented some challenges as the National Gallery of Ireland is in Dublin’s busy city centre. Similarly, solutions had to be carefully chosen to meet the unique demands of the listed building. However, these needs were taken into consideration at an early stage to ensure the project ran smoothly.

Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, explained: “For the first time the gallery has an integrated system of lighting, heating and security. It’s very much state of the art; we’ve been able to specify really good technical equipment.”

James Blanchfield, Pre-Contracts Manager for Ireland and Mainland Europe at Modubuild, a Trade Partner of ASSA ABLOY Security Doors said: “We pride ourselves on working very closely with our customers to understand their specific requirements and to provide specialist and tailored solutions.

“Doorsets for this particular project had to be fully compliant to achieve the latest standards and meet the specialist needs of each situation. Factors to consider included fire, acoustics, air tightness, high-security and pressure resistance.”

Stephen Wilkinson, Area Sales Manager for ASSA ABLOY Security Doors, added: “We had to ensure that the doorsets we were supplying were of the highest security rating as per the customer’s specifications. In addition to this, doors had to be certified to meet strict fire standards and our locking solutions had to include panic hardware as well as access control systems.”