A lobby fitted to the millimetre
A spatial configurator for entrance control hardware, built for a manufacturer whose speedlanes, turnstiles, and gates get specified on-site, one lobby at a time.
The client
A manufacturer of biometric and physical entrance-control hardware: speedlanes, turnstiles, and access gates. Their products get installed by security systems integrators, often as part of large, multi-site "hardening" programs, where a facility operator (in this case, a US enterprise campus rolling out standardized entrance security across dozens of sites) fits barriers into existing lobbies to stop tailgating and control access.
The problem
Every lobby is a different width. Fitting the right combination of speedlanes, turnstiles, and gates into a fixed space, without a gap on one side or an overhang on the other, is a millimetre-level spatial problem. Before this tool, an integrator's project manager would pull architectural drawings, look up exact widths across dozens of product PDFs, and work out a combination by hand or in CAD. Then email the manufacturer for pricing on that specific combination, and wait.
Across a multi-site rollout, that manual takeoff repeated at every single lobby.
What we built
A spatial configurator, not just a product picker. The user enters the real available width for their lobby, then builds a layout from speedlanes, turnstiles, and gates:
- A site-width input that tracks used and remaining space in real time, in millimetres.
- Product filtering that mathematically blocks anything that would no longer fit, instead of letting the user find out at install.
- A color-coded 2D layout preview, generated live as products are added or removed.
- A complete bill of materials, submitted as a ready-to-price request the moment the layout is finalized.
The moment the layout uses up the available width, the tool stops offering products that would no longer fit. There is no way to submit a request that isn't physically buildable.
It's a packing problem, not a picker
Most configurators add up a list. This one has to fit a set of fixed-width objects into a fixed opening with no slack — closer to packing a shelf than filling a cart. A 4,500 mm lobby doesn't care that you'd like two speedlanes and a gate if that combination lands at 4,520; the extra 20 mm isn't a rounding error, it's a lane that doesn't close and an install that gets sent back.
So the width is the governing constraint, tracked to the millimetre, and every product on offer is filtered against the space that's actually left. When the remaining width can't take anything, the tool says so and stops — there is no path to a layout that doesn't physically fit. The takeoff that used to mean drawings, product PDFs, and CAD collapses into adding tiles until the bar is full.
A 20 mm gap isn't a design choice — it's a callback. The tool makes it impossible to submit one.
Inside the tool
A recreation of the interface: site details on top, live-filtered product selection and a color-coded layout preview below, a full bill of materials ready to send for pricing.
Entrance Control Configurator
Site Configuration
Enter your site details and available space
Site Code *
Total Available Width (mm) *
Do you require bases?
Cables route through the base, avoiding core-drilling into the floor slab.
Product Selection
Filter and select products that fit your space
Visual Preview
See how your selection looks
Selected Products (7)
Clear allRecreated for confidentiality. Site codes, dimensions, and product names shown are illustrative, not the client's actual data.
What changed
Minutes
not days, to a quote
Field teams get a priced, buildable layout on the spot instead of waiting on manual takeoffs and back-and-forth pricing requests.
0mm
gaps or overhangs
Every submitted layout is mathematically guaranteed to fit the space. Non-buildable combinations are blocked before submission, not caught on site.
iPad
to finished spec
A project manager standing in the lobby can design a compliant layout and send it for pricing before leaving the building.
Questions, answered
What is a spatial (entrance control) configurator?
A tool where the buyer enters a real lobby width and builds a layout from speedlanes, turnstiles, and gates. It tracks used and remaining space in millimetres and blocks any combination that wouldn't physically fit, then outputs a buildable, priced bill of materials.
Can a field team use it on-site?
Yes — it's designed for an iPad in the lobby. A project manager can produce a compliant, buildable layout and send it for pricing before leaving the building, instead of pulling drawings and working out combinations by hand.
How does it prevent non-buildable layouts?
The moment a layout uses up the available width, the tool stops offering products that would no longer fit. There is no way to submit a request that isn't physically buildable, so gaps and overhangs are caught before submission, not on site.
Does this work for multi-site rollouts?
Yes. It was built for a national site-hardening program where the same manual takeoff repeated at every lobby. The configurator standardizes and speeds up each one, turning an engineering task into a drag-and-drop layout.
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