Architecture & Design – July-September 2019

CASE STUDY: CHEXIT AT THE RoYAl

oAkS FRIEnDSHIp HoUSE In ARIzonA

Royal Oaks Friendship House is a 56-room two-

level building for those suffering from memory

loss that forms part of a retirement community.

Designing this building meant finding the

right balance between the desire for an open,

welcoming home-like environment with the

need to ensure that the residents suffering from

memory loss were safe and secure in the building.

“Safety of the cognitive impaired while

allowing them to make choices freely and

move from one place to another in their living

environment can sometimes be a challenge,”

says Dina Capek, Royal Oaks director of Health

Services. “We wanted to have a way to alert the

companions when any resident walked from

indoor to outdoor spaces.”

Royal Oaks needed a delayed egress solution

for all of the facility’s stairwell, exterior and back-

of-house doors, and also the garden gates.

The Von Duprin CHEXIT delayed egress device

was able to provide the facility manager with a

secure and safe solution tailored for a memory

care environment.

The CHEXIT reduces patient elopement by

keeping the door secure for up to 15 seconds while

alerting staff of the unauthorised exit attempt.

The device can also easily be integrated with

access control systems, working in conjunction

with a fire detection system to immediately allow

residents to exit in the case of an emergency.

Another company specialising in security

solutions through their range of locks, doors,

gates and entrance automation is Assa Abloy.

Assa Abloy’s national marketing and

communications manager for Australia, Craig

Armstrong says “unwanted guests” were not

an issue for care and education facilities using

their SL500 automatic door. This is thanks to

the intrusion protection systems Assa Abloy

can package in or retrofit to the door.

“Automatic sliding doors have been

appreciated by our customers for years, and

we are now taking security to the next level by

equipping our sliding doors with a multilevel

intrusion protection system.”

Electronic

credentials also

provide an extra

level of control by

mitigating the risks

associated with lost

or stolen keys.

AbovE Assa Abloy’s SL500 Sliding Door. Photography courtesy of Assa Abloy Entrance Systems.

SUpplIERS Assa Abloy architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/assa-abloy Allegion architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/allegion

ArchitEcturE & DESign /

pRACTICAl

/ juL-SEP 2019

72

ADQ3_068_072_Security_V1.indd 72 29/7/19 9:02 am