Apollo Technology Protects EU President
Apollo fire detection technology has been chosen to protect
Grassalkovich Castle in Gӧdӧllő, Hungary, the central venue of the
Hungarian rotation of the Presidency of the European Union. Hungary
holds the EU Presidency from January to June 2011, and up to 250
events are scheduled to take place in the riding hall and stable
wing of the recently renovated castle. The contract to equip the
castle with world class fire detection was awarded to Elektrovill
Ltd, who have represented Apollo in Hungary for 22 years.
The baroque castle, with its white and gold richly painted
rooms, red marble bath, riding school and theatre, was built in the
middle of the 18th century and is second only to
Versailles in terms of its footprint. In the 19th
century it was purchased by the Hungarian state and was given to
the Emperor Franz Joseph as a coronation present, so it is also
known as the Royal Palace of Gӧdӧllő. During the Second World War
the castle fell into a state of disrepair, until large-scale
renovation works began to take place 15 years ago. During the last
two years these activities have been geared towards making the
venue suitable for hosting events relating to the Hungarian EU
presidency.
Part of the renovation involved bringing the castle's building
services up to modern standards. Elektrovill won the contract to
design, supply, install, commission and maintain the fire detection
system. They recommended a system that is based around Apollo's
XP95 analogue addressable technology. Apollo's open protocol and
extensive XP95 range allows freedom of choice for the fire system
specifier, installer and end user. All XP95 detectors are fitted
with Apollo's XPert card, which ensures that the detector address
remains assigned to one location and will not need reprogramming if
the detector head is removed for servicing, maintenance or
replacement.
Around 70 XP95 smoke and heat detectors were arranged in three
zones. Apollo interfacing devices, such as Input/Output units and
Switch Monitor units, were used to enable the Apollo fire detection
system to link with other critical equipment including aspirating
detectors. The fire detection system meets OTSZ standards,
Hungary's national fire safety regulations, which are in accordance
with EN54.
Ákos Kürti, Managing Director of Elektrovill Ltd, said: "Apollo
technology was chosen to protect this venue because of its
reliability. When you are protecting a venue as historically
important as this one, that will be home to many high-powered
European officials for several months, it is important that your
fire detection can be trusted."
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