Goodenough College in central London - home to more than 600
postgraduates from over 90 countries is the first building to be
equipped with Apollo's new range of XPander wireless detectors.
ERIF UK, who designed, supplied and installed the new fire
detection system, recommended XPander specifically to protect the
antique decoration in the College's libraries, which might have
been damaged by hard-wired devices. The new devices form part of a
larger intelligent fire detection system that protects the whole
site, which includes function rooms, study areas, libraries and
student living quarters.
Goodenough College was founded in 1930 to provide students
coming to London from countries across the (then) British Empire
with a collegiate life along Oxbridge lines. It continues to offer
this opportunity to students from around the world to this day.
Situated within the Grade II Listed houses on the north and south
sides of Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, the College required a
fire system sympathetic to its heritage.
The client's specification called for an appropriate fire
protection response for the heritage areas of the site, plus a
solution to nuisance alarms in the College's accommodation blocks,
caused by a number of sources, including steam in the bathrooms and
smoke in the kitchens. ERIF was able to select the perfect Apollo
product to match these differing requirements, as Denis Kelly,
Marketing Manager at ERIF UK, explains:
"All Apollo intelligent fire detectors use the same open digital
protocol, making them forwards and backwards compatible. This makes
our job so much easier, as it widens our choice of fire solutions.
It meant we were able to specify the new wireless XPander range for
the heritage locations at the College, so we didn't compromise the
interiors, alongside more established devices like the Discovery
Multisensor for combating false alarms in the accommodation blocks.
This meant we were able to offer the client the most appropriate
fire detection solution for their needs."
The new XPander range of wireless fire detectors is designed for
ease of installation. Devices are connected to the fire system via
an interface which is wired to the loop. No special adjustment or
programming is required. Once connected, the XPander devices are
recognized by the control panel simply as another detector
connected to the system.
The Discovery Multisensor has a number of features specifically
aimed at reducing false alarms. Incorporating an optical smoke
sensor and a heat sensor, it uses algorithms to process the signals
to produce one output on which the decision fire/no fire' is based.
Each multisensor also has five panel-selectable operating modes
that allow sensor sensitivity to be matched to local environmental
conditions.
The fire detection system at Goodenough College incorporates
approximately 1,200 Discovery and XPander devices in all,
configured around five Advanced control panels and programmed to
enable phased evacuation block by block.