Apollo guards against fire at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
A new fire detection system including approximately
1,500 Apollo XP95 devices
has been detailed to keep a permanent look-out for fire in some of
the accommodation quarters at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Works service manager Mowlem Aqumen Defence specified an
Apollo-based fire system to meet Ministry of Defence requirements.
The system was supplied and commissioned by Channel Safety Systems
and installed by M&E contractor SEC Ltd.
Accommodating change
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) was formed in 1947
from two older institutions: the Royal Military Academy (founded
1741) and the Royal Military College (founded 1800). Throughout its
history, the RMAS has evolved in response to the Army's changes in
needs and in organisation. Its varying academic role is reflected
in the additions and alterations to the campus buildings over time.
The Old College opened in 1812, and continues to serve. New College
was built in 1912 to house the increasing number of cadets
requiring training. Faraday Hall was added in 1961 and Victory
College, Academy HQ and Churchill Hall followed eight years later.
One of the most recent additions is the King Hussein sports
pavilion, completed in May 2001.
Maintaining and modernising the buildings to keep pace with
change is the responsibility of the RMAS Property Manager. Mowlem
Aqumen Defence is works service manager at the site, tasked with
procuring products and services on their behalf. Their
responsibilities have recently included the upgrading of fire
systems in some of the student accommodation areas.
Fire system upgrade
The system was provided in 12 separate blocks which contain
single student quarters and Sergeants' flats plus communal
recreation, washing and utility areas. Mowlem Aqumen specified a
hard-wired fire detection system for which component parts would be
readily available. They also wanted to minimise the likelihood of
false alarms, which had been an ongoing concern with older fire
systems on the campus.
All maintenance and works activities had to be carefully planned
and closely monitored to avoid interruptions to the 1,000 or so
Officer Cadets and other students who attend the Academy's courses
each year. The installation and commissioning schedule for the fire
detection system was confined to the six-week summer recess.
Mechanical and electrical contractor SEC Ltd suggested an
Apollo-based system from Channel Safety Systems as a cost-effective
means of meeting the Mowlem Aqumen criteria. Apollo-based systems
use an open, digital protocol to communicate. The protocol,
introduced in 1986, has been extended to accommodate the XP95 and Discovery ranges of
intelligent fire detectors but has never been modified. This
ensures forwards and backwards compatibility between products,
simplifying extension of systems or replacement of detectors to
accommodate changes of use. It also makes upgrades logistically
easier because work can be carried out in phases over time.
Apollo XP95 analogue addressable fire detectors were specified
for the RMAS accommodation contract. The XP95 range comprises an
ionisation and optical smoke detector, a heat detector and
multisensor. There is also a beam detector and a flame detector in
the range, plus interfaces, a choice of sounders and a manual call
point.
A unique, patented addressing mechanism provides simple, user
friendly and accurate identification of detector location. The
mechanism comprises a coded XPERT card which is inserted into the
base and read by the detector once it is plugged in. The address
card simplifies and speeds installation and commissioning and
eliminates addressing errors during maintenance and servicing.
There are almost 1,000 XP95 fire detectors installed across the
12 accommodation blocks, with each building having its own control
panel. Because the primary use is as sleeping accommodation, each
bedroom is fitted with its own sounder. SEC Ltd installed 500
Apollo sounders in total, each of which supplies a 75dB alarm at
the bed head in the event of an emergency. Any alarm is also
relayed to the main Guardroom.
The fire detection system was installed and commissioned within
the schedule of works and there was no disruption to the students.
The open protocol on which the fire system is based will ensure
that maintenance parts are easily sourced and that the system can
be easily upgraded or extended without the need for total system
replacement.
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