Honeywell building automation, fire and security systems, supplied for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, will benefit Australians for decades to come.

Honeywell technology is a vital ingredient at Sydney Airport, Stadium Australia, Sydney Superdome and the Airport Link rail system.

BRACKNELL, UK, 21 SEPTEMBER 2001  –  The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games are only a memory, but the advanced building automation, fire and security controls that Honeywell supplied for many of the key infrastructure projects will be used and appreciated by Australians for decades to come. 

Many claimed that the Sydney 2000 Games were the best-hosted Olympics yet and Honeywell’s project involvement in the state-of-the art infrastructure at Sydney Airport, Stadium Australia, Sydney Superdome and the Airport Link rail system made sure that the wheels kept turning.

From touch down to the stadium, Olympic patrons experienced Honeywell reliability and leading technology at every turn.

Touch Down

A record number of people used the facilities of Sydney Airport’s (Kingsford Smith) international terminal during the year 2000, with some 45,000 international passengers processed in a single day during the Olympic period.  Airport security was driven by Honeywell technology, with Honeywell Digital Video ManagerÔ providing video surveillance with full integration with Honeywell Enterprise Buildings IntegratorÔ (EBI) which has been installed at the site since 1999 and is used as the integration platform for Sydney Airport’s total security, access control and surveillance systems.

Linking with the City

Once through the crowds at Sydney Airport, Olympic visitors headed into the Harbour City on the new Airport Rail Link.  One of the largest infrastructure projects in Australia, the Link project extended Sydney’s existing underground rail network by 10 kilometres.  Five additional stations now link the Airport to Sydney’s Central Station in the heart of the city.  In addition to supplying and installing many individual control components of the project, Honeywell provided the link to the central control and monitoring station, which provides control and monitoring for the rail system’s security, fire protection, ventilation, emergency warning, closed circuit television and lighting.  These systems all combine to provide a safe, comfortable and secure environment for staff and passengers.

The Main Event

A successful Olympics needs state-of-the-art venues and Stadium Australia and Sydney SuperDome certainly met requirements.  Security is vital when dealing with large crowds.  Most of the sporting action took place at Stadium Australia, with over 100,000 spectators, where the security system was provided by Honeywell. 

It has a Honeywell security system integrated with intelligent camera functions to provide security, surveillance and general and lift access control.  The combination of security, CCTV Switcher, Smart Card Access Control and Photo Identification Systems provided a total solution to monitor and report on all activities.  Monitoring of intruder alarms from the Honeywell system enabled activation of lighting to enable camera monitoring, whilst large numbers of duress points ensured that safety and security of athletes, spectators and workers came first at all times.

Located just around the corner from Stadium Australia, the Sydney SuperDome is the largest indoor live entertainment and sporting arena in Australia.  One of the major venues for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Sydney SuperDome hosted artistic gymnastics, trampoline, the basketball finals and wheelchair basketball. 

Featuring one of the first Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) installations in Australia, the Sydney SuperDome was designed and constructed to set new benchmarks in urban design, access for people with disabilities, spectator comfort, operational efficiency and Olympic serviceability.  Honeywell’s areas of responsibility covered lift access control, general access control, security monitoring including door alarms, panic alarms and duress calls all monitored via the many CCTV cameras located inside the complex.

The End Result

Like no other event before it, The Sydney 2000 Olympics were an amazing experience for Australians and for the Honeywell staff who worked on related projects. The words of International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch sum it up, “Seven years ago I said ‘and the winner is Sydney’. Well what can I say now?  You have helped to write a glorious chapter in the history of Australia.

The Olympics is a tough test for any product, and the success of the Sydney 2000 Olympics stands in testimony to the capability and reliability of the Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator and other products, used extensively during the Games and today at these world-class facilities.