The New England landscape is dotted with historic buildings. Many of our prestigious universities have buildings that are more than 200 years old. Even in the cities, many centuries-old historic buildings are still proudly used for corporate offices, government buildings and more. These buildings have been preserved, restored and appointed with modern fixtures to make them functional in the 21st Century. One of the important projects to ensure these 18th Century buildings are fully up to date for their 21st century purposes is making their communications infrastructure fully modern and functional; this needs to be accomplished while respecting the history and uniqueness of each structure.
KTS has vast experience working within these historic buildings. We have developed techniques to install modern communications equipment and make it nearly invisible thus not disturbing the beauty and uniqueness of these treasured pieces of our history. Modern buildings all have similarities in their basic construction and areas built in to accommodate modern wiring. Historic buildings, however, are each unique in their features and construction. Most 18th century buildings were constructed with two- to three-foot thick brick walls and they typically have solid ceilings – as opposed to modern drop ceilings, If the building renovations over the centuries have been minor, they still have old plaster and lathe construction.
These old buildings are solidly built and, because of the history they represent, their caretakers want as little change brought to their structure as possible. We take the time to find unobtrusive ways to install the required wiring and equipment leaving the building aesthetics as undisturbed as possible. The key to this unobtrusiveness is to skillfully and carefully scout for pathways and areas that already exist in the building; then use these to install the wiring and house the equipment.
An example of the attention to detail and effort to make the equipment unobtrusive is in the installation of wireless access points. These are small 6×6 inch boxes. The wiring that powers them can be concealed in wire channels that are designed to blend into the décor of a room making them nearly unnoticeable while in plain sight.
KTS has experts who understand construction as well as communications infrastructure. When we take on a project, we assign people who have the most experience working in older and historic buildings to lead the project. Their knowledge and expertise mean they have a keen eye for finding areas that are available to install the required wiring without significant remodeling of the existing. Finding these areas can be a little time consuming, but the benefits of finding ways to minimize the changes to the building are a big benefit.
Bringing an 18th century building’s communications infrastructure up to 21st century standards is done every day; but doing it while respecting the historic integrity of the building requires expertise in working in older buildings. KTS has experts with the knowledge and ability to use minimally invasive techniques to install state of the art communications equipment. You can have cellular service in every corner of your building, you can have secure access points to ensure your building security and you can have consistent Wi-Fi in every office and conference room. You can have it all without compromising the historic beauty and integrity of your building. Contact the experts at KTS for uncompromising communication in any building.
