St. Mary’s Student Accommodation, Bristol (UK)

Customer:

Empiric Student Property is a leading provider and operator of modern student accommodation in prime city centre locations. As a property developer they buy plots of land and construct new buildings or they refurbish existing buildings. They currently have properties in 28 cities cross the UK, which they operate through their Hello Student brand.

Challenge:

St Mary’s in Bristol was a former hospital. Empiric bought the property and set about refurbishing it into premium student accommodations, while retaining its beautiful historic facade. The end result consists of three separate buildings with a mix of studios, one and two bed apartments and townhouses set amidst landscaped courtyards. As well as 153 bedrooms, there are shared spaces including an on-site gym and an entertainment room. As a high-end student accommodation provider, Empiric wanted everything to meet the highest specifications. They therefore partnered with market leading providers for all fixtures and fittings, including locks and access control.

Solution:

ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions has been working with Empiric Student Property for several years, during which time a strong working relationship has been developed. A specification with them was developed early on in the relationship and ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions provided Empiric with VingCard Signature and VingCard Classic Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) compatible locking technology at many sites. More recently, ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions started specifying the high-end mobile access VingCard Essence for Empiric’s premium student accommodations, including St Mary’s in Bristol.

VingCard Essence revolutionizes the electronic lock industry by housing all lock components, including the reader and mobile access board, inside the door, therefore enabling sleek, premium looking design aesthetics. The system uses both RFID communications with standard credentials and Bluetooth Low Energy communications. This means that users can access the locks via the ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions Livvi App on their smart phones.

The use of the Livvi App significantly reduces the administration burden for the housing operator. If someone is locked out, for example, the door can be opened digitally instead of sending someone out. And for student accommodation, when there is a big intake at the start of the year, the system eliminates the need to physically distribute keys.

VingCard Essence locks have now been installed in all of the bedroom doors at St Mary’s student accommodation, as well as the common and perimeter areas. The solution provides the customer and the end-users with an easy to use and secure access system that also looks great. Empiric continue to be happy with the solution which gives everyone at St Mary’s the confidence that they have the best possible product.