Apollo technology lies at the heart of an intelligent fire
detection system installed to protect a new urban village for
students in the centre of Lincoln.
The client, The Mainstay Group, had emphasised the need for
minimal unwanted alarms and high reliability. Leader Systems UK Ltd
of Rugby won the contract to design, supply and commission the fire
detection system and recommended Apollo's Discovery range of
intelligent fire detectors to meet the client's criteria.
The Pavilions comprises eight accommodation blocks varying from
four to eight storeys in height. The central hub of the development
consists of four interconnected blocks, with the remaining four
being stand-alone. All the bedrooms are en suite and arranged into
four, five and six bedroom apartments with some self-contained
studio apartments also available.
Capable of accommodating in excess of 1,000 students altogether,
The Pavilions is now the largest student village in Lincoln. Its
construction follows the success of The Junxion development on the
opposite side of the university campus in 2005, which is also
managed by The Mainstay Group and has an Apollo-based fire
detection system from Leader Systems UK Ltd.
Leader Systems UK Ltd conducted a design review and risk
assessment at The Pavilions to determine the development's fire
protection requirements. Tony Weaver, Systems Manager, explains:
"We identified that the areas of high risk for unwanted alarms were
the bedrooms, kitchens and internal link corridors and we
recommended the Apollo Discovery range because it features five
programmable sensitivity settings that makes it extremely adaptable
to differing environmental conditions."
In fact, Apollo's Discovery range of intelligent fire detectors
offers a number of features to ensure that warnings are
particularly reliable and nuisance alarms are kept to a minimum.
Examples include automatic drift compensation, a feature that
adjusts for environmental conditions such as dust to ensure the
detector is not adversely affected, and sophisticated
self-monitoring that rejects transient alarms as well as the five
programmable settings that allow sensor sensitivity to be matched
to specific requirements.
Leader Systems UK Ltd also recommended the use of special
verification software for all automatic detection within the high
risk areas. This is programmed to operate over and above the main
phased evacuation programme and was developed in conjunction with
the panel manufacturer Advanced Electronics.
Each accommodation block at The Pavilions is equipped with an
independent fire alarm control panel and these are networked to
provide site-wide fire and fault reporting. The main block also
houses a bespoke 500 zone LED reporting station that is coupled
with a scaled site plan. Approximately 1,700 Apollo Discovery
devices are installed in all, with smoke detectors positioned in
the bedrooms, corridors and landlord areas and heat detectors used
in the kitchens. The fire system also links with a site-wide pager
system, automatic opening ventilation, magnetic door closers in all
common areas and lift shutdowns.
The system is configured to enable a phased evacuation, to
ensure that only occupants in the immediate vicinity and above the
area of origin are evacuated first. Should the alarm continue, the
system will then evacuate the entire floor where the incident
occurred, followed by evacuation of the entire block as
necessary.
The Pavilions opened its doors to students in September 2006,
although the fire detection system has been operational for longer.
Paul Whittingham, of managing agents The Mainstay Group, comments:
"The installation, design and implementation phases went very
smoothly and the fire detection system has proved to be totally
reliable. It has been trouble-free from an operational and safety
point of view, which is a credit to all parties concerned."