March 2022

Locking systems
UNLOCKING SIMPLICITY
UAP has helped deliver a locking system that needed patented keys that cannot be re-cut
for a project at Manchester College. We hear more about this recent project...
The Manchester College is the largest
further education college in the UK, with 10
locations across central Manchester, South
Manchester and North & East Manchester.
The latest addition to the college is a £25 million
teaching facility at the Openshaw campus
in East Manchester. Constructed by Caddick
Construction, the new facility centralises
healthcare, construction and motor vehicle
teaching in Openshaw.
The new building includes a six court sports hall,
outdoor pitch, gym and sports lab, along with a
health suite with a hospital ward and infectious
disease area. It also includes workshops for
construction, mechanics and engineering
students.
Some of the learning areas are multi-use
classrooms which need to be accessed by
members of staff from different departments,
while other areas will be specific to a particular
department with access restricted to members of
that departmental team only.
All areas of the building needed to be accessible
for maintenance and management teams. To aid
both security and convenience, the college was
keen to implement a locking strategy that is both
secure and simple to operate for all members of
staff.
A critical part of the brief for Sheffield-based
architectural ironmongery specialist, Sapphire
Hardware, was that the chosen locking system
should provide patented keys that cannot be
re-cut on the high street, thereby ensuring any
duplicates are authorised and any lost or stolen
keys are reported.
The goal for the locking strategy was to enable
each key holder to open all doors for which
they have authorised access with a single key.
This created the need for an intricate locking
hierarchy with multiple variations in individual
keys and masterkeys. The college also wanted
A total of 20 keys were
developed for this project
Caddick Construction and Sapphire Hardware to
consider how project delivery at the new building
in Openshaw could be part of a wider roll out of
the locking hierarchy as other buildings in the
campus network are built or refurbished.
Caddick collaboration
Working collaboratively with the college and the
construction contractor, Sapphire developed a
locking hierarchy that enables all locks to be
opened by a grandmaster key, with 12 submaster
keys providing access to specific locations for
teaching, maintenance, admin and cleaning staff.
Once this had been agreed with the college, UAP
Locking Systems custom-manufactured each
cylinder and key, including hand-pinning of all
cylinders for accuracy, and provision of two keys
for each lock.
“As some locations serve multiple departments,”
explained Bill Murray from UAP Locking Systems,
“some locks need to be opened by more than
one submaster key. UAP Locking Systems
manufactured a total of 20 key types, aligned to
the access protocols provided by the college and
the schedule developed by Sapphire Hardware.”
For some doors, there are two locks as an
additional layer of security and all classrooms
have been fitted with a thumbturn to enable fast
and easy locking from inside.
This was part of the client’s brief, in order to
deliver an additional lone working security
measure for any staff staying after normal
teaching hours, and for lockdown procedures
in the event of a terror or knife crime attack. All
external doors have also been manufactured
by UAP Locking Systems to enable doors to be
locked from inside the building as an additional
safeguarding measure.
All the data from the locks and keys produced
by UAP Locking Systems is now securely
stored by the company, to enable duplicate
keys and replacement locks to be cut at any
time. Importantly for this project, the data
will also enable locks and keys for any future
refurbishment or build programmes at other sites
to be designed and manufactured aligned to the
security and access protocols at the Openshaw
building.
“For example,” explained Andrew Canning,
Project Manager at Caddick Construction, “If
additional construction teaching areas are
created at another site, the locking data stored by
UAP will enable a lock to be installed that allows
construction teaching staff based in Openshaw to
access those rooms with their existing key.
“The whole project has been a collaboration
between the delivery partners to enable the client
to maintain security on a one person, one key
basis, and its success has been dependent on the
accuracy of Sapphire Hardware’s schedule and
UAP’s manufacturing.”
Contact UAP:
0161 796 7268
https://uapcorporate.com/
@UAP_Limited
38 T I MARCH 2022
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST