Micron Group Installs Genetec, Axis At Australia Square In Sydney, Australia. 

Micron Group Installs Genetec – Axis At Australia Square – Micron Group has delivered a state-of-the-art video surveillance solution and security infrastructure upgrade for one of Sydney’s most iconic commercial assets, Australia Square.

Located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, the landmark commercial property accommodates thousands of tenants, visitors, contractors and hospitality patrons moving through its tower, lobby, food court, courtyard, loading areas and adjoining Plaza building. Managing the site demands reliable situational awareness across a complex environment.

Micron Group was engaged by Dexus to engineer and deliver a comprehensive new surveillance solution as the building’s legacy CCTV system reached end of life. Working closely with Dexus, CBRE building management, on-site security, building stakeholders and tenants, Micron Group designed, specified, installed and commissioned a state-of-the-art IP surveillance platform while Australia Square remained fully operational.

With a project value exceeding $A500,000, the upgrade was delivered across three major stages, allowing the new infrastructure to be progressively introduced while maintaining security coverage and normal building operation.

According to Micron Group’s managing director, Zois Savva, the new system has completely transformed the building’s CCTV ecosystem, from cameras and cabling through to fibre, network switching, recording infrastructure, system architecture and the security control room itself.

“The existing analogue CCTV system had progressively reached the end of its useful technological life,” Savva explains.

“Image resolution was limited, equipment had aged and the existing camera arrangement left areas where surveillance coverage could be substantially improved.

“Rather than simply replacing devices on a like-for-like basis, Micron Group approached the project from an engineering and whole-of-system perspective.

“The team assessed camera positioning, fields of view, security risks, existing infrastructure, communications pathways, network requirements, recording capacity and operator workflows before developing the new system architecture.”

Savva, says that at the centre of the solution was a Genetec Security Center surveillance management platform combined with 83 high-resolution Axis IP cameras that were selected and positioned according to the requirements of individual areas of the property.

“A significant part of Micron Group’s role was the engineering and specification behind the installation,” Savva says. “Modern enterprise CCTV systems depend on considerably more than the cameras visible throughout a building. Network capacity, communications infrastructure, fibre bandwidth, PoE switching, server architecture, storage, resilience, camera selection and software configuration all contribute to the performance of the finished system.

“Micron Group’s multidisciplinary capability across CCTV, electronic security, electrical systems, structured data cabling and fibre communications allowed these elements to be engineered as one coordinated solution. Meanwhile, new communications racks were installed within the Level 19 and Level 35 plant rooms, loading dock and the MDF serving the adjoining Plaza building.”

The racks incorporated UPS-backed Cisco Gigabit network switching and were interconnected using a high-throughput fibre-optic backbone, creating the communications infrastructure required to support the transition from analogue CCTV to an enterprise IP surveillance environment.

Thousands of metres of Siemon Cat6A structured cabling were then installed throughout the property to connect camera locations back to the new network infrastructure.

With the new cabling in place existing analogue cameras could be progressively decommissioned and replaced with high-definition IP technology without attempting to force the modern surveillance platform onto legacy communications infrastructure.

“This underlying engineering is an important distinction in projects of this scale,” Savva explains. “The quality of an enterprise CCTV system ultimately depends on the integrity of the infrastructure behind it.”

Challenges Of The Installation

According to Savva, Australia Square’s famous cylindrical architecture may be one of the building’s defining features, but it also presented a unique surveillance challenge.

“Curved spaces, structural columns, changing sightlines and the geometry of the main lobby meant conventional camera layouts alone could not provide the desired coverage,” he explains.

“Micron Group engineers evaluated the building spatially, identifying potential blind spots and selecting specialised camera technologies and locations to overcome them.”

Ultra-wide-angle Axis cameras were incorporated within the cylindrical ground-floor lobby to maximise useful coverage. In areas where structural elements created multiple viewing directions or potential concealment points, specialised Axis P3717-PLE multi-sensor cameras were deployed, providing multiple fields of view from a single camera location.

The adjoining low-rise Plaza building required particular attention. Structural columns, accessible external fire stairs and perimeter areas created locations where improved surveillance visibility was required. Here, 6 specialised cameras were incorporated to provide significantly greater situational awareness for the security team.

Micron Group also extended surveillance into areas that previously had limited or no effective coverage with 4 cameras were installed at roof level, providing security personnel with top-to-bottom external oversight of the property for the first time, while additional cameras were installed at fire stair entrances associated with the Level 19 and Level 35 plant areas.

“The objective throughout the design was not simply to increase the number of cameras but to place the right technology in the right position and provide security operators with meaningful, usable coverage,” Savva explains. 

120TB Enterprise Recording Architecture

Managing video from a large high-definition IP camera network also required a substantial increase in recording and storage capability. At the heart of the new solution, Micron Group implemented Genetec Security Center supported by a Genetec Directory Server and 2 archivers operating with RAID storage infrastructure providing approximately 120TB of surveillance storage capacity.

“Camera recording profiles were configured intelligently, enabling lower framerate recording under normal conditions and increased recording activity when motion was detected,” Savva says. 

“This approach helped optimise available storage while retaining the higher level of visual information required during activity and security events.

Transforming the security control room

According to Savva, a sophisticated camera network is only as effective as the environment from which security personnel operate it. 

“For that reason, Micron Group’s scope extended into a complete overhaul of the Australia Square security control room,” he says. “The previous display arrangement was replaced with 4 large 45-inch 4K LED displays supported by new workstation infrastructure, creating a far more effective visual overview of the building.

“Operators can configure camera matrices and layouts according to operational requirements, enabling key areas and incidents to be brought rapidly to the attention of security staff.

“The Genetec platform provides Australia Square’s security operators with a modern, centralised environment for monitoring live cameras, retrieving recorded footage and managing the surveillance network.”

Savva says the improvement was not limited to the main control room. 

“A new concierge workstation incorporating dual displays and an additional remote monitoring terminal within the dock master’s office extended access to the surveillance system across the wider security operation,” he explains. 

“This distributed approach allowed different members of the building team to access relevant camera views while maintaining the Genetec platform as the central surveillance environment. For on-site security personnel, the result was a substantial improvement in both situational awareness and usability.”

Delivering Major Works In A Live Asset

One of the most significant aspects of the Australia Square project is not visible in the finished installation – throughout the upgrade, Australia Square remained a functioning commercial property.

Thousands of people continued to move through the building while businesses operated, security services remained active and building management continued to meet the expectations of tenants and visitors. 

According to Savva, installing thousands of metres of communications cabling, new fibre infrastructure, communications racks, network equipment, cameras and control-room technology within that environment required careful coordination.

“Micron Group worked closely with Dexus, CBRE management, security personnel, tenants and other building stakeholders to stage works around building operations, access requirements and occupied areas,” he says.

“Camera migrations had to be carefully sequenced so that the process of upgrading the security system did not itself compromise building security. Access to ceiling spaces, communications rooms, plant areas, public spaces and tenant-adjacent locations also required forward planning and close communication.

According to Savva, Micron Group’s ability to undertake sophisticated technology upgrades inside premium, fully occupied assets is a key part of Micron Group’s expertise.

“Technical capability is essential, but in major commercial property environments successful project delivery also depends on understanding how buildings operate,” he explains. 

“The Australia Square project demonstrates the increasingly integrated nature of modern electronic security. CCTV today sits at the intersection of security, information technology, communications, networking, electrical infrastructure, fibre connectivity, software and building operations. Micron Group’s strength is its ability to bring these disciplines together.

“Rather than approaching surveillance as an isolated package, Micron Group provides end-to-end capability, from consultation, site assessment, engineering and system design through to product specification, structured cabling, fibre infrastructure, network integration, control-room design, installation, programming, commissioning and ongoing support.”

The completed Australia Square upgrade has transformed a progressively ageing analogue system into a high-resolution, networked enterprise surveillance environment.

“83 Axis IP cameras, specialist multi-sensor technology, a dedicated fibre and Cat6A communications infrastructure, enterprise network switching, 120TB of recording storage, Genetec Security Center and a completely redesigned security control room provided the building with a substantially more capable security platform,” Savva says.

“Importantly, the system was also designed with future expansion in mind. Additional cameras and specialist applications could be incorporated as requirements evolved, allowing the surveillance system to continue developing alongside the operational needs of the asset.”

Micron Group works with leading enterprise technologies and platforms including Axis, Genetec, Avigilon, Milestone, Hanwha and other commercial security technologies, selecting solutions according to the operational requirements of each asset rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

Services Micron Group provided during the Australia Square CCTV upgrade included consultation, engineering, system design, specification, CCTV installation, network infrastructure, fibre, structured cabling, programming, integration, commissioning and control-room delivery

You can learn more about Micron Group here or read more SEN news here. 

Micron Group Australia Square CCTV Upgrade – Micron Group Installs Genetec

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