01 / Capability · Electronic Security
Access Control
Credentials, readers, controllers and door hardware — coordinated with joinery, MEP and security.
Card, mobile and biometric access for doors, gates, lifts and restricted floors.

02 / The discipline
Access control is where physical hardware, electronic control and building operations meet at a door. Credentials, readers, controllers, door hardware and the software that governs them all have to agree on what a door is meant to do.
Zentrum designs access control with the architect, the joinery detailer and the MEP consultant so the door works as one — visually, mechanically and electronically.
Part of Electronic Security.
03 / Zones and layers
How the system is layered.
Doors carry access hardware, cables, monitoring, closers and often life-safety interfaces. Bringing access control into the door schedule at design stage, alongside the architect and joinery detailer, is what allows a door to work quietly rather than fight itself.
- 01 /
Perimeter
Boundaries, gates and approach routes — where a property's protective thinking starts.
- 02 /
Entry
Doors, lobbies, barriers and readers deciding who passes and what is recorded when they do.
- Readers
- Barriers
- Visitors
- 03 /
Circulation
Corridors, lifts, cores and stairs, where observation matters more than density of hardware.
- 04 /
Controlled areas
Plant rooms, server rooms, cash and record areas, given tighter credentials than the rest of the building.
- 05 /
Observation and recording
Camera positions, retention and lighting conditions matched to what the space genuinely needs to see.
- Coverage
- Retention
- 06 /
Response
Alerts, escalation and who is expected to act — agreed with the client, not assumed by the system.
Outcome /
Layers that agree with each other.
Conceptual model only. Each project's zones, coverage and policies are designed against its own drawings and requirements.
04 / Design principles
What the design is held to.
Credential and reader selection
Credential technology chosen for the environment and the operational model.
Door hardware coordination
Locks, strikes, releases and monitors specified with the door schedule and joinery.
Controllers and cabling
Controller topology and cabling planned with equipment-room and containment routes.
Software and administration
Access policy, cardholder administration and reporting the operating team can run.
Interfaces
Structured interfaces to CCTV, intrusion, intercom and life-safety where the design requires them.
01 /
Tenant turnover and credential lifecycle in commercial buildings
02 /
Family, staff and guest profiles for luxury villas
03 /
Integration with intercom and video at the front gate
05 / Where it applies
Where this is installed.
Workplaces and headquarters
Offices where the systems are judged on how little attention they need day to day.
ExploreHotels and resorts
Guest-facing and operational systems planned together, and commissioned around opening.
ExploreAlso delivered in: Corporate offices · Residential towers and villas · Mixed-use developments · Hospitality · Retail · Education and healthcare.
06 / Coordination and delivery
How the package runs.
- 01 /Understand the access policy the client actually needs to operate.
- 02 /Coordinate the door schedule, hardware and cabling with the architect and joinery detailer.
- 03 /Plan controllers, network and administration architecture around that.
- 04 /Install, integrate and commission — including interfaces with life-safety.
- 05 /Hand over administration training and documentation for the operating team.
- 01Reader hardware sized for villa entries, corporate doors and turnstile lobbies
- 02Mobile credentials, card credentials and biometric variants
- 03Lift and floor access management for multi-tenant towers
- 04Audit trails and visitor management workflows
07 / Related systems
What this works with.
- CCTV SurveillanceIP camera systems engineered for clarity, coverage and quiet day-to-day operation.
- Building ProtektionIntegrated intrusion, alarm and analytics that treat the whole building as one protected volume.
- Building Intercom & PAVideo intercom at the gate, audio intercom at the door, PA across every floor — one integrated fabric.
- Electronic Security
- Access events integrate with CCTV, intrusion and the wider security picture.
- Data & IT Infrastructure
- Controllers and servers depend on the network and cabling plant.
- Connected Communication
- Video intercom and door stations interact with access at entrances.
- Safety Systems
- Fire and life-safety cause-and-effect release doors as required.
Technology ecosystem /


Next step /
Talk to us about the scope.
Planning CCTV, access control or integrated security for a new project?