Newdesk

Defensive Architecture

Architects Barker Shorten have won Arts Council approval for a new "castle" clad entirely with Vandgard Rotating Anti Climb Guards.

A structure perched on the top of Rushenden Hill at the mouth of the Thames looking out over the River Medway and the Isle of Sheppey. It is a folly that makes playful reference to the language of defensive architecture based on The Napoleonic Martello Towers with a simple circular plan and Roman towers with their banded elevations. But it is also reminiscent of more modern, functional waterside structures with its robust galvanized steel frame being a security fencing, and anti climb spikes providing a security barrier.

Its cladding is the familiar defensive architecture of today: the Vandgard aluminium rotating anti climb vanes found everywhere, fixed in bands around the building in order to stop climbing and making it secure, but also seemingly wrapping the tower in "tinsel", allowing it to glint and gleam in the sunlight with its many shiny facets and giving it a “gothic silhouette” when seen against the sky.

Like all good "ancient monuments", you enter it through a steel turnstile. Access by a spiral staircase of thirty nine steps brings visitors up to a viewing platform at the top with a 360 degree view: details of visible landmarks helpfully etched into the coping.

A CCTV camera on a mast (which could also be a part of security equipment) transmits the view down to other remote viewing locations closer to earth for those who do not wish to climb the hill.

Vandgard is manufactured from 6082 Aluminium which is corrosion free in marine environments yet has the same tensile strength as mild steel.

Vandgard Anti Climb Guards Ltd
Email: exec@vandgard.co.uk Web: www.vandgard.co.uk
Tel: 01797 229872 Fax: 01797 229846

 

Parkour Damage Complaints Rise

This is the problem that LQ Housing had to deal with in South London recently before they called in Vandgard Anti Climb Guards.

Free running is fine, but breaking into private property is definitely not. The entrance gates in the picture are now protected with Vandgard and the problem solved, neatly and without intent to cause harm.

Vandgard’s rotating action creates an unstable anti climb barrier which rolls if anyone attempts to climb over it. Visually it is a clear warning in itself and so does not contravene either the Health or Safety at Work Act, COSHH regulations or any other civil or criminal laws.

Because it is lightweight, weighing only 4 kilos per metre, it is also very easy to handle and can be used on even wooden or mesh fencing. Due to its ease and speed of installation, it also offers substantial cost benefits over traditional methods of protection, such as coils of barbed wire.

 

Spa Aluminium

Spa Aluminium manufacture Vandgard Anti Climb Products at their works in Tunbridge Wells.

CNC 4 Axis 4Mtr Machining
They have a newly installed 4 axis Mecal Kosmos 305 CNC machining centre, massive capability from simple angle fixing brackets to complex multi faced extrusion machining. Contact them with your enquiry. 01892 533911

Cutting
Fully automated Cross Cut Saw for close tolerance cutting (+/- 0.5mm) Double Mitre Saw for accurately mitreing sections to make-up frames etc.

Drilling & Routing
A variety of equipment for long and short production runs of drilled components.
Single & Double headed Machine Routers for the production of those special shaped holes.

Punching
7 Tonne Air Press with Auto-Feeder for punching holes at pre-determined centres along the length of light aluminium extrusions. Ideal for large quantities of ongoing production runs.

Ancillary Equipment
Plastic Coating Machinery for the protection of sheet products. Automatic Wrapping Machines for the protection of finished extrusions. Other processes available through sub-contractors, forming of sheet, welding, milling, stamping, bending etc.

Guillotining
Guillotine for shearing aluminium sheets up to 10' (3048mm) in length and 1/4" (6.35mm) thick.

Your enquiries are welcome for all types of Aluminium Fabrication.

Spa Aluminium Ltd.
Unit 1
Chapman Way
Tunbridge Wells
Kent
TN2 3EG

Telephone: 01892 533911
Telephone International: +441892 533911
E-mail: sales@spaaluminium.co.uk
Fax: 0844 8248956

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Schools and Local Authorities

Improve school security with anti climb system:

The Government has accepted:

The recommendations relating to juvenile crime, school security, school violence, strong perimeter fences and reinforced walls made by Lord Cullen in the public inquiry into the shootings at Dunblane Primary School

The booklet Improving Security in Schools by the Department for Education and Employment
(DfEE)

And the guidance provided by the Eduction Service Advisory Committee (ESAC) in regard toviolence to staff in the education sector.

 

Man Arrested Over Heathrow Alert

A major security alert has taken place at Heathrow airport as a man with a rucksack scaled the perimeter fence and ran into the path of an aircraft.

The alert, which delayed some flights, came a day before the Queen opens Heathrow's new Terminal 5 building.

Understandably there are now questions to answer and a recent blog on Google suggested “There should be an inquiry as to why he wasn't cut to pieces by the razor wire?
The security fencing at Heathrow is mostly standard fencing that is easy to cut and to climb. As for razor wire, it’s not that good unless there is a lot of it and you can’t use it in public places.”

Security fencing has made great technical advances in recent years and Vandgard’s Rotating Anti Climb Guard is used at some airports and by the Metropolitan Police and DoE because it is the most effective anti climb device. It physically rolls away intruders with proven delay times up to 20 times longer than barbed wire.

Unlike razor wire, which can form mantraps, or impaling spikes which are often illegal and can also present a dangerous hazard to employees working overhead or nearby, Vandgard is not designed with intent to cause serious harm, it's rotating action creates an unstable barrier which rolls if anyone attempts to climb over it. Visually it is a clear warning in itself and so does not contravene either the Health or Safety at Work Act, COSHH regulations or any other civil or criminal laws.

Vandgard Anti Climb Guards Ltd are members of The Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers.

Applications:
All situations where serious vandalism or theft is likely and particularly where Public Liability legislation applies. Also in environmentally sensitive areas where an inoffensive appearance is important. Examples include commercial and industrial sites, schools, vehicle parking areas, domestic, sports and leisure areas.

David Waite
Vandgard

Anti Climb Guards Limited. PO Box 51 Edenbridge Kent TN8 6WY.
TEL:01797 229872 Fax: 01797 229846

David@vanDGard.co.uk

www.vanDGard.co.uk
www.vandgard.fr
www.vandgard.de
www.vanDGard.com

 

Without Security

Following several high-profile security breaches, the Secret Service on Thursday announced it would be adding "temporary security enhancements" to the White House — including an anti-climb feature with sharp metal spikes.

"The temporary design solution for the White House complex fence is meant to improve security, while minimizing visual impacts and respecting the significance of the White House," the Secret Service and the National Park Service (NPS) said in a statement.

The new security measures will include replacing concrete barriers at vehicle checkpoints with mobile steel plate barriers, adding a new officer booth at a White House entrance and installing a removable anti-climb feature "with sharp metal points" on top of the White House fence, the agencies said in the statement.

Work on vehicle checkpoints at White House entrances is expected to begin on Friday, with the enhancements set to finished by mid summer, the Secret Service and NPS said. They are working with other federal agencies to develop more permanent security enhancements for the complex.

Intruder jumps White House fence 1:25
"The feature is meant to deter and inhibit individuals who may attempt to climb over the fence," the statement reads, adding that work on the spikes is expected to begin in early July and take about four weeks. "This temporary measure will be in place until a long-term solution is implemented."

The announcement comes after a series of breaches and attempted breaches in Washington— including a shocking incident in September where a man scaled the fence, making it all the way to the East Room of the White House while carrying a knife on him before he was tackled and arrested. Officers found a machete and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his car.

Omar Gonzalez, 43, pleaded guilty in March to unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a weapon and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees following the Sept. 19 breach, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. He is facing between 12 to 18 months in prison and will be sentenced on June 8.

Last month, a Florida mailman landed in a gyro-copter on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in a political protest, also prompting questions about the Secret Service's ability to protect the nation's capital.

This handout image provided by the National Capital Planning Commission shows a diagram of a proposal for a temporary fence improvement at the White House. The Secret Service is planning to attach a second layer of steel spikes to the top of the White House fence to keep would-be fence jumpers out. National Capital Planning Commission via AP.