The downtown district of Las Vegas is undergoing a revitalization. Leading the resurgence is Zappos, the online retail sensation for apparel and footwear sales. Their new corporate headquarters is located in the former City Hall building, which has been completely renovated both internally and externally to reflect and accommodate the Zappos culture and style. The redesigned space features open, naturally lit spaces and designs to encourage people to interact and enjoy their day.
The repurposing of the office space and surrounding property from a conventional municipal government space was the main project theme. For example, jail cells were turned into meeting rooms rather than being dismantled and the number of entrances to the 11 story building was reduced to encourage serendipitous interaction between personnel. The overall design is a creative and interactive workspace environment for the 2,000 employees who come and go on a 24/7 basis. In addition to scheduled visitors, the building is also open for public tours.
Designing the video surveillance and security system fulfill its function of protecting people, property and assets while remaining unobtrusive was an important objective of the building’s retrofit. The system had to meet corporate standards for IT and video retention, with video views and alarm monitoring managed at the corporate headquarters of Amazon, Zappos’ parent company.
NAV designed the system using a multi-pronged approach – high definition video surveillance, a comprehensive access control system with video management and electric turnstiles. The entire system is fully integrated and runs on a dedicated network; all movement, activity and data is captured and monitoring is event-driven.
At the heart of the system is Lenel’s OnGuard® security platform which manages all of the security needs including video, access control, alarm and credentialing. Employees entering the building must pass through a bank of six Boom Edam Speedlane 300 turnstiles by swiping their OnGuard access control badge. Two Boon Edam Tourlock revolving turnstiles exist for entrance into highly secure areas of the building. Visitors, contractors and other non-employees are issued a temporary badge that permits entrance to the building and to specific areas within the building. Sony high definition video surveillance cameras, discreetly located inside and outside the building, provide high resolution images that are recorded on Lenel NVRs. The live or recorded video is available for viewing by both Zappos and Amazon authorized personnel.
In designing the system, NAV worked closely with PENTA Building Group, the design team from Zappos and security management from Amazon. NAV’s knowledge and experience in designing and building state of the art systems, meeting deadlines and coordinating with multiple stakeholders proved invaluable to the project. The intelligent and highly functional system ensures an enhanced level of safety and security throughout the six acre campus and meets all of the requirements set out by the customer.
