In Europe’s competitive residential rental market, differentiation is no longer driven solely by location or architecture. Increasingly, it is the invisible infrastructure — the systems that govern access, security and everyday convenience — that defines the quality and long-term viability of development.
This shift is evident in a new residential project in Linz. Austrian developer RoomBuus collaborated with 2N to deploy a fully integrated, digital-first access ecosystem across a 328-apartment building.
The project illustrates how access technology, when treated as a strategic layer, can support operational efficiency and improve resident experience.
From doors to data
The challenge was not simply to control who enters the building. The development required a system capable of managing multiple user groups — residents, visitors, couriers and service staff — while remaining intuitive, secure and visually unobtrusive. Crucially, it also had to scale, allowing centralised management across hundreds of units without increasing operational complexity.
“Connecting door entry, mobile access and lift technology, we aimed to create a unified, seamless experience. At the main entrances, the building is equipped with 2N IP Verso 2.0 intercoms, creating a modern access point for residents and visitors alike,” says Michal Kratochvíl, CEO of 2N.
Rather than fragmenting access across disparate systems, every interaction — from answering the door to calling a lift — is orchestrated through one coherent architecture.
Access beyond the front door
The system extends throughout the building’s shared spaces. Bike storage, fitness facilities and technical rooms are secured using 2N Access Unit 2.0 readers, supporting both Bluetooth and RFID credentials. Residents move freely through the building using the same digital identity, whether on a phone, smartwatch or key fob.
“From a developer’s perspective, the breakthrough is that access does not stop at doors and keys,” says Sebastian Wahl, COO of RoomBuus. “When residents can use one trusted identity everywhere, we cut friction for tenants and cut workload for our teams, especially as people move in and out.”
Such consistency matters. Fragmented access points are a common source of frustration in large residential developments. A single identity framework reduces cognitive load for users and simplifies rights management for operators.
When lifts become part of the ecosystem
The most distinctive element of the Linz project is the bidirectional integration between 2N access systems and KONE lift technology. Once authenticated at the entrance, residents are automatically assigned a lift, with their destination floor preselected. No additional interaction is required; the lift is already waiting.
For visitors and couriers, the logic is equally precise but more tightly controlled. After resident grants access remotely, the system calls a lift and authorises travel to one permitted floor only — the resident’s apartment. This prevents unauthorised movement within the building while maintaining a seamless arrival experience.
“This is a highly advanced access control system, but it didn’t behave like one during installation. The integrations are well thought out, which made scaling across hundreds of apartments efficient,” says the installer Marius Marek, CEO of m-smartsolutions GmbH.
A model for modern rental housing
The Linz development offers a glimpse into the future of rental living, where access is no longer a background utility but a strategic differentiator. By unifying entry points, shared spaces, visitor management, and lift control into a single digital ecosystem, RoomBuus and 2N have created a building that is easier to manage and safer to operate.
As European cities continue to densify and rental portfolios grow in scale, such integrated, software-driven approaches are likely to become the norm rather than the exception. In this context, smart access is not simply about opening doors — it is about opening new standards for how residential buildings function in practice.