Set amongst the Dubai skyline is the newly completed Capital Towers.
The Monarch Dubai, 35-story tower will contain 140 guest rooms 43 suites and 58 serviced residences, 5 restaurants, and 16 meeting rooms. Funded by an Abu Dhabi-based consortium of investors, the scheme also encompasses a four-storey glass-covered courtyard connecting the towers, which accommodates cafes, restaurants and retail outlets.
For such developments, it has become mandatory in the Sheikdom of Dubai to protect the buildings with integrated security schemes. As such, the management and project developers of the Capital Tower venture felt it a priority to provide an integrated security system that would not only meet, but surpass the Government and police guidelines.
With one of the world’s most desirable addresses, residential and commercial property housed within the complex, and alongside one of the most luxurious hotels, material investment in the building by its tenants will be high. This investment will be protected by security staff and a mix of multiple security systems, the cornerstone of which is CCTV. To integrate the buildings’ security, Capital Towers’ management turned to Alpha Data Dubai due to their experience with high-end, discreet building surveillance systems. Alpha Data installed 180 security cameras that cover grounds, corridors, lifts, and reception areas. To ensure best possible quality of camera pictures, Alpha Data specified Network Video Technologies (NVT) unshielded twisted pair (UTP) video transmision technology, deciding against a traditional coax based system.
What they say
Alfred Baltazar of Alpha Data says: "A traditional, bulky coax installation would have proved problematic. Space in the ducting of the towers is at a premium due to the various other services it is required for, such as general building services and other elements of the security mix. However, this is not an issue for small, lightweight UTP cable networks. Another issue raised was the concern over the level of co-electrical interference that may affect a coax cable based installation running adjacent to the other electrical services."
Alfred adds: "By using NVT’s UTP video transmitters and hub receivers, with their excellent interference rejecting capabilities, both ourselves and Capital Towers’ management were able to reap the benefits of crystal clear picture quality." The correct video waveform demanded by today’s DVR equipment, to secure colour images, is catered for by NVT’s active video transmission equipment. NVT’s receivers employ what the makers term ‘fully variable’ potentiometer adjustment, allowing adjustments to video signal gain over the varying distances of camera cable runs. This provided Alpha Data with a reliable route to integrate the latest DVR systems.
Alfred Baltazar sums up: "We used a dedicated multi-pair UTP cable network which proved much less time consuming than pulling coax bundles. This resulted in a quicker and simpler CCTV installation, delivering a high-performance, future-proofed surveillance solution that was extremely time and cost effective."
About the Towers
Occupying prime real estate in the city’s business district, the towers form a modern, bold structure. Clad in a skin of blue glass, the two towers of the 90,000 sq metre project are among the most sophisticated of a number of skyscrapers under development at Dubai’s Sheikh Zaved Road.
