Hackney Empire is situated in the heart of London’s East End and has been an iconic venue for the arts and popular culture since it first opened in 1901. It is a Grade II* listed building and, following recent restoration, an exceptional variety theatre for the 21st century that embraces a local and global community of artists and audiences; and presents work that is at once extraordinary, relevant, inspirational and transformative. Hackney Empire’s pioneering work with young people and its communities is at the heart of its mission.

We were tasked with fully upgrading the site's Access Control System from the existing legacy Sateon system via Site Guard to the more modern Janus C4 platform (Grosvenor Technology).

The site will run be running 24 doors using HID iClass High-Frequency readers and credentials to improve their security. This move has allowed the site to introduce a modern proximity-based solution that moves the site away from outdated swipe technology.

This offers increased security as well as piece peace of mind for the client. The Hackney Empire staff require secure access across the site with various degrees of permissions. Janus C4 enables the site to offer a varied and comprehensive solution to ensure the security of the building well into the future.

Our team successfully upgraded the existing access control system to the Janus C4 system across five5 days, minimising disruption to the site through concentration on the internal doors first, followed by a migration of all external doors to the new system on the final day.

Photography courtesy of Mark Senior