Biomedical Research Locked Down in Calif.

Jan 1, 2006 12:00 PM

The California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research, the largest biomedical university expansion in the country, will double The University of California San Francisco's research space. It requires a high degree of security to protect highly skilled researchers, sensitive experiments and expensive equipment.

The building's doors are normally locked and require a proximity card to enter, but they are also equipped with a Von Duprin delayed exit device that remains locked and sounds an alarm for 15 seconds in case of unauthorized entry.

The UCSF building also features several large windows that are equipped with Locknetics electromagnetic locks and preloaded LCN concealed door closers. When a fire alarm is activated, the magnetic locks will release and allow the closers to open the windows.

Elevator fire doors are held back by LCN electromagnetic hold-opens, while LCN door closers are mounted so they pull the doors closed over the elevator when the fire alarm system is activated and the hold-opens release.

In the laboratories, a pair of unequally sized doors provides normal egress but allows extra width to move large equipment. “The labs often have huge equipment that must be moved in and out,” says Brian Hassett, superintendent of security operations for UCSF. Instead, most of the labs include a three-foot door for normal operations and a second 14-inch leaf that can be opened when equipment is being moved. The larger doors are equipped with Von Duprin 98 EL series exit devices because of the H-8 (Hazardous Space) laboratory occupancy.

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