National Trust Exhibition Centre, Avebury, Wiltshire, UK

Site Details:
Designed to complement the existing Alexander Keiller museum, the new exhibition has been developed in response to visitor demand for more information about the way people lived in the area 6,000 years ago. The exhibition is housed in the 17th century Manor Barn adjacent to Avebury's famous stone circle.

Technical Details:
The listed structure presented an unusual set of fire protection requirements: a thatched roof, reclaimed timber and an earth threshing floor – a potential source of unwanted alarms due to dust. The problem was overcome in an unorthodox way: Discovery multisensors were set to detect heat during the day and smoke at night. Brown mouldings were also used so that the detectors blended in with the timbers. This meant that the multisensor’s LED flash mode was implemented so that they could be seen against the wood. As an additional precaution, the fire system includes heat-sensing cable that is laid beneath the thatched roof and is monitored by a Zone Monitor Unit.