Developers, Weston Homes, have chosen Urmet’s 2-Voice, 2-Wire system for Preston Hall, a prestigious Victorian restoration project in Aylesford, Kent. Preston Hall is a Grade II-listed Victorian mansion built in the Jacobean style, consisting of 36 luxurious and unique one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments, houses and villas. To restore and refurbish this magnificent property, the developers needed a system that utilised the existing cabling throughout the building, while providing the residents with a modern-day system using the latest door entry technology.
Urmet supplied its market-leading 2-Voice system providing connectivity to the 22 apartments within the main core of the building. The apartments are 
accessed via 2 entrances, each with an Elekta Glass video entry panel mounted within an H-design post. The impressive main entrance to the building required a bespoke solution to mount these panels, so Urmet set about fabricating a super-slim stainless steel H-design pedestrian post to complement the finish the client wanted.
A sensor built into Elekta glass panel detects the presence of a visitor, triggering the soft-start LED illumination of the icons on the black glass keypad and the 3.5” LCD colour display, providing users with instructions on how to make a call. Aiko hands-free 4.3” soft-touch technology DDA-compliant colour video monitors were supplied for the fit-out in each apartment.
Residents at the newly refurbished building will now benefit from all the advanced features that Urmet’s 2-wire system has to offer, including being able to integrate video surveillance. Up to five analogue CCTV cameras can be integrated into a single system and can be monitored from the internal video door phone within each apartment.
2-Voice connects with a twisted pair of a Cat5 cable with no additional twin cable for power, meaning it relies on very little control equipment. Simply using 
two wires from the entry panel up to the apartment station makes it fast and easy to install and perfect for renovation projects.
The Elekta Glass digital video entry panel, previously only available as an IP PoE panel, is now available for the 2-Voice system, which is suitable for installations ranging from small and medium blocks of flats to large-scale residential developments.
Mark Hagger, Urmet’s Sales and Marketing Director, commented, “We are very pleased to have worked on such an historic building that was perfect for Urmet’s 2-wire system. Previously, the range of compatible panels we could offer on our 2-wire system was limited, but now we’re pleased to have added both Elekta Glass and Elekta Steel digital panels to this system, which is already proving very popular among our clients.”
About Urmet UK
The Urmet Group was established over 75 years ago and is the largest manufacturer of door-entry systems in Europe. Urmet UK specialises in audio and video entry systems and has a range of products to cater for almost every application, from simple one-to-one systems, to sophisticated digital and IP-based systems. Over thirty million systems installed in over 60 countries worldwide are the measure of Urmet UK’s global dedication to manufacturing quality products.
For further information, please visit www.urmet.co.uk or email [email protected].