IDIS secures airfield and popular TV location: Dunsfold Park case study

This case study examines the installation of a video surveillance system developed by IDIS at Dunsfold Park, incorporating an airfield, business park and more.

Background:  Sky’s the limit for popular estate

Covering hundreds of acres, Dunsfold Park near Guildford began life as a military airfield in 1942, before making its mark in aviation history for multiple innovations as part of BAe Systems until 1960. Later, the estate was acquired by the award-winning Rutland Group, who continue to manage the site, now in partnership with owners, Trinity College Cambridge.

Today, in addition to its private airfield and motor test track, the estate has a thriving business park where over 100 companies employ 700 people. As a popular film location, it is home to the BBC’s Top Gear team and the backdrop to TV and Hollywood blockbusters from Casino Royale to Come Fly With Me.

The continued rejuvenation of Dunsfold Park includes investment in sustainable new infrastructure, with plans to further develop the estate amenities and community. And every year, thousands of people celebrate the site’s illustrious history at its air and motoring show, Wings & Wheels.

Challenges: Safeguarding a multi-use estate

To support the continued development of the high-profile, multi-use estate, the management team wanted to replace the legacy security system with an HD IP infrastructure to increase capacity, image quality and flexibility to scale.

Although the estate is secured by a physical perimeter fence, 24/7 surveillance is a pre-requisite to ensure robust protection for the growing number of people working on site, the businesses and many high-value assets.

A key objective was to improve 24/7 visibility of hard-to-reach locations in all weather conditions, like remote entrance gates

With so many diverse uses – from landing jumbo jets and testing high-performance cars to housing high-tech businesses and hosting public events – upholding health, safety and security in all eventualities is vitally important. The solution had to be easy to use and operate, extremely resilient and offer good value.

A key objective was to improve 24/7 visibility of hard-to-reach locations in all weather conditions, like remote entrance gates, with the flexibility for operators to easily zone in on specific areas as required.

(Download the The video surveillance report 2018 sponsored by IDIS)

Solution: State-of-the-art HD surveillance

Following a successful pilot trial, the contract was awarded to expert security integrators ISD-Tech to deliver a comprehensive HD surveillance solution running on an integrated fibre optic and wireless IP network.

The customised design was built with state-of-the-art IDIS® equipment to deliver seamless plug-and-play ease of use, high-quality real-time images with no visible latency and industry-leading resilience, all from a single provider.

Comprising hardware, software and peripherals from the IDIS DirectIP® suite, the solution includes a mix of seamlessly integrated ruggedized infra-red PTZ from Redvision™ as well as static cameras, HD network video recorders (NVRs) and cost-free IDIS Centre video management software.

The versatile IDIS equipment ensured that challenges in the site environment could be easily overcome to provide complete 24/7 coverage, including long-range night-time visibility of previously hard-to-reach areas.

Results and benefits: Peace of mind, in any event

The innovative solution is optimised to meet Dunsfold Park’s current surveillance requirements while providing the foundations to scale across the wider Dunsfold Park portfolio and add new technologies, such as ANPR, as its needs evolve.

David McAllister, Estate Manager, Dunsfold Park, said: “As a fast-growing multi-occupancy site, our security needs are complex and varied. We’re absolutely delighted with the quality and performance of the new IDIS solution. We can easily monitor everything from a single platform, both from on-site control points, and remotely via smart devices.

“And it’s given us the improved operational support we wanted to meet the health, safety and security needs of everyone from our business tenants to film crews, while providing added peace of mind for the public attending events like Wings & Wheels.”