Access to the space

Note: Much of this information currently out of date.

As a member if you have keys to the space, you're welcome to use it any time of the night or day. If you're ever without your keys, then for security we request that you only use the space during the same hours that the Rollo Academy of Performing Arts, located on the floor above, is open. These are 16:00 - 20:00 on weeknights, and 09:00 - 16:30 on weekends. Outside of these hours, you may be locked in when they leave. Get keys and you don’t need to worry about it; they’re available with a £6 refundable deposit.

There are four doors between the street and the hackspace. Left to right: The street door, the cage, the outer hackspace door, and the inner hackspace door.

The street door has a mortice lock and requires a key. The cage is a steel gate in the stairwell on the same floor as the hackspace, and has a large padlock. There's a combination lock on the outer hackspace door, the combination to which may change periodically. If so, this will be announced in advance on the members only google group. On entering through this door, please relock the padlock to the loop by the door, and mix up the combination.

On the innermost door, you will find Gatekeeper (pictured below), for which you will need an RFID card. The RFID reader is behind the H symbol. If you already have something like a bus pass or Oyster card, you can use that as your key. Don't worry, we don't access any of the information on your card, just a unique numerical card ID that the reader can recognise in order to unlock the door. Alternatively, if you don’t have any RFID cards already, you can pick up a blank RFID card from the hackspace for a £1 deposit.

On becoming a member, you should receive a single use pin number, with which you can set up a single card for hackspace access. Simply swipe the new card until the LCD display says “ACCESS DENIED”, then enter your pin number (do not press enter) to register the card. From then on, that card will release the inner door for you and the LCD will display a welcome message. Beware, multiple RFID cards too close together in your wallet may cause the reader to misread.

Leaving The Space:

We share the stairwell with the dance school on the floor above. For security, the street level door should be locked overnight between the hours of 21:00 - 09:00. Regardless of the time of day, if the dance school are not in (easily determined by nipping up the stairs to check if their door is padlocked or not), and you are the last person leaving the space, please lock not just both of the hackspace doors, but also the cage and the street door as you leave.