Fingerprint, code or app — planned as part of your security concept, not as a gadget on the front door. With a mechanical fallback and no obligation to use a cloud.
A smart lock from an electronics shop opens the door — nothing more. In our concept, authorised access sets off a chain: the alarm system disarms, the hall light comes on, the heating changes to presence mode. On the way out, one touch of a finger is enough for arming, lights off and setback mode.
We rarely rely on a single credential: the fingerprint is the everyday route for the family, the keypad code the answer for children or the cleaner, the app the way to let someone in remotely. On top of that there is always a mechanical fallback. Which combination fits, we settle at your door, not from a catalogue.
An access control system has to work when something fails. So we plan for local intelligence: fingerprint and code work without the internet, in a power cut the mechanical level stays usable, and nothing that matters for security hangs on a cloud. Where security functions are involved, a mandatory cloud is a reason for us to rule a product out.
Quick to install, but on its own: a battery-powered device with its own app and its own cloud.
We plan access control, alarm and scenes as one system — with a mechanical fallback.
The classic case from practice: the front door is ordered, the leaf is made, and nobody has thought about the cable transition — no conduit in the outer frame, no recess for reader and motorised lock, no supply near the door. What ends up hanging on a bespoke oak door is a battery-powered wireless cylinder. Access control is not decided at the ironmongery but months earlier in the shell construction drawings — thought through together with alarm, gates and scenes.
The electric door release only frees the latch — the door itself stays unlocked. The motorised lock throws several bolts and locks automatically. Self-locking panic locks always keep the escape route clear from the inside. Which version fits is decided by use, escape route and insurance logic — not by a catalogue.
A fingerprint fails on wet, cold or work-worn fingers. Codes get read over a shoulder and passed on, transponders get lost, the app needs battery, Bluetooth and patience. So every door that matters gets at least two independent routes — plus a mechanical one that never needs power.
Cable transition from frame into leaf, recesses for reader and motorised lock, conduit in the outer frame, a supply near the door: that belongs in the coordination with shell construction and the joiner. If it is forgotten, all that is left later is a wireless unit with a battery compartment, or a visible surface-mounted solution on precisely the door that cannot carry it.
Ironmongery, reader and handle set we choose together with the architect and the joiner: recessed flush rather than stuck on, material and finish carried through, the cable exit out of sight. Security equipment may well be something you want to see — but it must not cheapen a façade or a hand-made oak door.
The cleaner on Tuesdays from eight to twelve, tradespeople for a fixed period and only as far as the technical room, guests with an expiry date, children without the wine cellar: permissions are profiles made up of person, door, time window and exception. We model them before commissioning, so that afterwards nobody hands out master keys out of convenience.
Every opening is logged with credential, door and time stamp — there to be looked at when a question comes up, and deliberately limited in how long it is kept, because household staff do not deserve a movement profile. If you want it, the system reports unusual openings actively to your phone instead of merely filing them.
Gates, garage door and barrier run on volt-free contacts with feedback from the end position — open is a piece of information, not a feeling. At Detlef Steves in Moers, garage door, DoorBird and voice control run on one logic: one command, whether by switch, app or spoken word.
Pool house, garage, garden house, technical room and plant room get their own zones and their own rights: the pool service reaches the filter room, not the house. Across the distances of a plot we plan cable routes, transfer points and lightning protection separation distances early — trenches dug afterwards are the most unpleasant part of any access control system.
Power gone does not mean door shut: every entrance door keeps its mechanical way of locking, while controller and motorised lock carry on from backup power. Per door we settle whether it unlocks or stays locked when the power is off, and we take fire brigade access and a key safe to the established VdS logic into account from the start.
Cabled is the first choice: permanently powered, dependable in its signalling, low-maintenance. Where the fabric of the building rules that out — in the 400-year-old manor house in Cologne we deliberately took access control, alarm and the Siedle camera over a wireless system — we plan battery life, warning thresholds and a backup way in along with it.
Locking up and arming is one action, not two. The authorised credential arms the system fully as you leave and disarms it as you open the door — with an enforced sequence: if a window is open, the system says so before anyone drives off believing everything is shut.
Access is the best trigger in the house: whoever unlocks the door in the evening gets guide lighting instead of the full ceiling, the shading already run down, music on the ground floor and the heating out of setback. Tied to the person — the children's credential starts a different scene from the parents'.
You can tell good access control planning by the fact that nobody thinks about keys any more — and that if it comes to it, every door still opens.
From the permissions concept to fitting the door — every element planned and documented.
Who may enter the house and when — credentials, permissions and procedures clearly defined before any equipment is bought.
Agreed early with your door manufacturer: multi-point locking, opens on a fingerprint — with no visible extra equipment.
A unit over the cylinder or a new mortice lock — checked against door and ironmongery before any recommendation.
Authorised access disarms the alarm, brings the light on and puts the heating into presence mode.
A lock cylinder as a fallback in every concept — security never rests on electronics alone.
From fitting the door to a clean integration into your KNX system — from one group.
We settle the daily routine, the door situation and the level of security you want: who comes and goes, who needs access for a while, what should happen when you enter the house?
Mechanics and electronics have to match. We check door, ironmongery and cylinder — and our recommendation is manufacturer-independent: a factory-fitted motorised lock, or a clean retrofit in an existing building.
In a new build we coordinate early with your door manufacturer and plan the cabling and the KNX integration — including the permissions concept and the mechanical fallback.
The work is carried out by our sister company elektrofabrik — from fitting the door to the KNX integration. After that you grant and withdraw permissions yourself, in minutes rather than through a locksmith.
Access control, alarm system and Siedle camera in a listed building — solved over a wireless system, without touching the character of the house.
Alarm system, garage door, DoorBird video entry and roller shutter automation — security and comfort work together here in one shared visualisation.
Homematic IP Wired with DoorBird in a timber-framed house — the solution follows the building and what it allows, not the catalogue.
smartfabrik is a smart home planning practice based in Düsseldorf (Reisholzer Werftstr. 31A). We plan for private clients and companies in Cologne, Düsseldorf and across North Rhine-Westphalia — and, where wanted, nationwide and internationally. A selection of the places we have already planned and delivered in:
Good readers identify a finger by features of the skin structure that a photograph cannot fool, and they store the templates encrypted in the device rather than in a cloud. Combined with a multi-point motorised lock, the level is above that of a conventional key – which can be copied, lost and stolen.
The door stays locked and secure – a motorised lock is closed in its resting state. For getting in, the mechanical level remains: a lock cylinder as a fallback, which we provide for in every concept. The relevant components can also be backed by an uninterruptible supply if the security concept calls for it.
Yes, and it is one of the biggest gains in daily life. You issue a code or an app permission that is valid only within a defined time window – on Tuesday between 8 and 12, say. After that the access lapses automatically. If you want it, the log shows you when the door was opened, and you are informed by push message.
Yes. In an existing building there are two routes: units fitted over the cylinder already there, which are quick to install, or replacing the mortice lock with a motorised lock for the invisible and more comfortable solution. Which makes sense depends on the door, the ironmongery and what you expect – we look at it on site and our recommendation is manufacturer-independent.
Yes – and that is exactly how we plan it. Fingerprint, code and the link into the KNX system work locally in the house; the internet is needed only for remote access and push messages. If the connection drops you still get into the house, and all the automation keeps running. Where security functions are involved, a mandatory cloud is a reason for us to rule a product out.
In a first conversation we work out what makes sense at your door — manufacturer-independent and honest.
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