A Fine Art
Meeting the security requirements of the new Museum of Islamic Art in Doha involved striking a very delicate balance between protecting the valuable artefacts while respecting the museum's unique design. Vibeke Ulman reports
The design, location and position of the new Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar makes it one of the most inspiring cultural projects of its kind in the world. It is also viewed as a catalyst for the development of Doha as a cultural and educational centre of excellence and demonstrates the vision and commitment of the State of Qatar to the international cultural/museums sector.
The museum will display the Qatar National Collection of Islamic Art – a world-class collection of ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, woodwork, glass and other items made in countries all over the Islamic world from medieval Spain to Central Asia and India.
Reaching a balance in protecting the valuable artefacts and making the museum an open, friendly and wonderful visual experience to the visitors and scholars who will use it, has been an interesting challenge for the project planners. The result is that they have chosen to implement one of the world’s most sophisticated state-of-the-art surveillance and security technology systems based on fibre optic transmission technology from UK-based AMG Systems.
Designed by Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (commonly known as I M Pei), who also designed the controversial glass pyramid in the Louvre, the entire project encompasses a massive 45,000 square metres. The museum is situated on the southern part of the Doha seafront on an artificial island about 60 metres off the coast.
A crescent cape has been added to the island to act as a northward tidal barrier and to block eastward industrial buildings from the view. The museum emerges from the water offering a magnificent view over Doha’s lagoon from the west. It has its own marinas providing moorings for VIP guests lit with floodlights 20 meters high, visible from quite a long distance across the lagoon.
The museum will also serve as an educational institution offering support to local schools and providing facilities for research scholars from within Qatar and from overseas. Exhibitions will include a wide array of luxurious, well-preserved artefacts of ivory and silk – some of which are more than 600 years-old – that belong to the Islamic art style manifested in their inscriptions and Arabesque. Such motifs stem from the arts of countries and empires that had converted to Islam between the 13th and the 18th centuries.
Successful combination
A comprehensive security and surveillance solution for the museum is, of course, a must and there were serious considerations to be made with regards to the overall design. Brian T Connor, head of security & safety, Qatar Museums Authority, explains:
“Designing the comprehensive security plan for the museum involved balancing the need to ensure the security of the artefacts and safety of staff and visitors with the need to make the museum and education centre accessible, welcoming and user-friendly. To this end, identifying those areas where ‘big brother’ was not imposing on the visitors was vital. The various systems installed in the museum and their flexibility gives the security and safety department the ability to adjust its approach according to the risk profile at any time. With CCTV (including radar detection across the sea approaches), access control, motion detection and the presence of security and safety wardens, we are able to monitor activity to assess the most successful combination to meet the needs of the museum at varying times of the day, as well as the needs of the security & safety department. Ultimately, it is the security & safety department’s responsibility to work with the museum’s curatorial and aducation staff to ensure the museum and education centre can fulfil their mission in the most secure and safe environment as discreetly and unobtrusively as possible”.
One of the challenges facing the security department is the fact that the museum has been built on its own island in Doha Bay says Connor. “The design of the building has included open areas, including the bridges from the mainland to the museum, which are designed to give visitors clear and uninterrupted views of the surrounding areas. This has led to some of the walls being at relatively low levels offering a possibility that someone could possibly fall into the sea. To counter this there will be security and safety wardens in all risk areas and we also plan to have two inshore rescue boats on duty whenever the museum is open to the public. We further had to consider, that the Museum of Islamic Art is the first of a major investment in National Museums in Qatar – and in time will be joined by additional museums around Doha City. The overall security plan for the Qatar Museums Authority calls for all museums and stores to be on a single, integrated platform mirroring that implemented in the Museum of Islamic Art.”
Design criteria
Consultant Kevin Gausden from Quadrant Security Group worked on the specifications for the project and he explains the design of the surveillance solution in more detail. “During the design phase of the Museum Of Islamic Arts, many aspects had to be considered. The design criteria required pre-alarm images from all 420 cameras being recorded at real-time (25 frames per second) uncompressed video. An IP solution would not have met the criteria due to inherent issues regarding latency/bandwidth requirements and video compression techniques. Whilst different fibre transmission companies were approached and evaluated, AMG Systems provided a professional service and worked with Quadrant Security Group to develop the design solution and transmission requirements. The harsh Middle East environment, the stability of the AMG Systems product range, the quality of service and the ongoing technical support all added to the selection.”
A multi-core fibre backbone infrastructure is utilised to carry multiple disciplines from local floor control cabinets to the security equipment room where the AMG receivers convert the images back to coax terminations on a real time uncompressed video basis. A Synectics modular digital recording system is installed at the front end integrated control system and records the images on a ‘time lapse later’ basis thus providing the requirements of the real time pre-alarm.
The AMG products were not only utilised for video and telemetry transmission but also provided the network for the ISIS Limited AspectARTS Artwork RFID tagging system using the inbuilt RS232/485 ports. The RFID tagging system, amongst others, delivers the signals from pressure pads on the exhibition displays as well as vibration detection and door-to-door magnetic reads. Tests were carried out by both ISIS and AMG Systems to confirm compatibility prior to approval for the use of the RS Ports within the AspectsARTS network infrastructure. This also provided a project cost saving against the use of individual fibre converters and allowed fibre cores to be saved for future project expansion.
The AMG product ranges provide transmission solutions for not only CCTV but other applications to be transmitted along side the real time uncompressed video such as RFID Networks/RS232-485 data systems and alarm gathering nodes and Ethernet medium bandwidth connectivity. The product ranges are completely scalable making AMG an ideal solution for most CCTV systems.”
Fierce competition
With an original total budget of approximately QR873 million (US$239 million) of which the security solution alone was for US$5.25million, the contract for this prestigious project was the object of fierce competition in the industry. Experts in installation of complex security solutions, Specialized & Interactive Systems L.L.C (SIS www.sisuae.com) based in Dubai was awarded the contract. General manager at SIS, Bruce Haigh, explains: “The AMG line of products were familiar to us as we had considered them on some projects in Dubai prior to the Museum project. We had researched several suppliers of fibre transport systems and were happy with the technical specification and performance of the AMG products. In terms of price there were other suppliers that were aggressively targeting this project and who had offered us a lot better pricing. In the end the product specification and quality as well as the support we received from AMG Systems, were the criteria that influenced our final decision in selecting AMG as the supplier for the CCTV transmission system. And I’d like to add, that AMG has been extremely supportive throughout the project and assisted in the design of the system.”
SIS installed a fully dual redundant system using AMG’s Guardian-Lite 4600 series. The 4600 series is specifically designed for low cost multi-channel point-to-point video transmission over multimode optical fibre - together with associated Ethernet and low speed data and audio signals. It is a highly resiliant, managed, low cost, transmission system for both compressed and uncompressed video signals, and is available for 4 and 8 channel point-to-point video transmission with data/audio and Ethernet in dual redundant applications.
A total of 420 cameras are installed of which 21 are Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ). Most of these are installed inside the museum although a certain number of cameras cover the perimeter and the surrounding parkland.
A special feature is the four radar pods on the building – which are sweeping the sea approach constantly – and are connected into the transmission system. Hence, when a movement is spotted, the nearest camera automatically is set to trail the boat – or the diver – across the bay for visual verification and threat assessment.
Bruce Haigh says: “The camera signals are routed to two control rooms – however future planning is looking at establishing a single central control centre to which all individual site control rooms will report via the WAN. All the cameras can be viewed at any time in any of the control rooms, as long as the operator is given viewing rivileges.”
The marina, which is located to the north side of the museum is primarily intended for VIP use and will moor four vessels. The docking area will also be used for changeover of the personnel in the two rescue boats that will constantly be at sea during the museum’s opening hours. The project is currently in the final stages of completion including the surrounding landscaping. The official opening is scheduled for 22nd March 2008.
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