Apollo specified to protect Boots the Chemist premier Oxford Street Store

Apollo specified to protect Boots the Chemist premier Oxford Street Store

An Apollo-based intelligent fire detection system has been specified to protect the new Boots the Chemist premier store in Oxford Street, London, UK. The system was designed by Charterhouse Building Services and is being installed by Erif (UK) Limited. Erif already has an ongoing maintenance agreement with the client, but won the contract to install the Oxford Street fire detection system under competitive tender.

The fire system specification for all Boots the Chemist premises stipulates an open protocol - a requirement that has been fulfilled by using Apollo fire detection products. The protocol that Apollo detectors use has been available since 1986, when the company introduced its first range of intelligent fire detectors. Since then it has been extended - once for the XP95 range and once for the Discovery range - but never modified. This ensures forwards and backwards compatibility between products, simplifying the extension of systems and making replacement of component products during changes of use or upgrades easier.

The fire detection system at Boots the Chemists, Oxford Street, is designed to L1 requirements. It comprises two Kentec Syncro four-loop control panels and over 500 Apollo Discovery intelligent fire detectors and devices.

Discovery Range

The Discovery range has been specifically developed to meet two key market demands: adaptability to changing conditions and protection against unwanted alarms. Evolved from the proven technology behind Apollo's acclaimed XP95 range, Discovery gives specifiers and users five panel-selectable bands, inbuilt drift compensation, a non-volatile memory and fail-safe operation.

The range comprises ionisation and optical smoke detectors, a temperature detector, a multisensor (combined smoke and temperature) detector and a manual call-point. There is also the Discovery Carbon Monoxide (CO) fire detector, which offers fast and accurate sensing technology and requires only very low power.

Each detector in the Discovery range can operate in one of five response modes, any of which can be selected from the control panel. Each mode corresponds to a unique response behaviour, which can be broadly related to sensitivity to fire. Whatever the type of detector, mode 1 will give higher sensitivity to fire than mode 5. Therefore, Discovery detectors set to mode 1 will be most suitable for environments in which sources of unwanted alarms are rare, for example cleanrooms and computer suites. At the other extreme, response mode 5 will be suited to more dusty or smoky environments such as loading areas where diesel forklift trucks are operating. Response mode 3 is a general-purpose setting.

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