St Albans Civic Centre has completely renewed its fire system, with Hyfire supplying over 500 wireless devices as part of a significant upgrade to the 1980s building.
The upgrade of the fire system was undertaken by Fire Guard Services. A hybrid system of wired and wireless devices was chosen, to ensure the project would not disturb employees. Fitted in three weeks, it covers all offices, public spaces and plat rooms within the building, as well as the council chamber and the town’s police station.
Brendon Searle, Senior Fire Alarm Engineer at Fire Guard Services, said: “St Albans Civic Centre is a busy hub in the city centre, housing hundreds of council employees as well as visiting members of the public. The old fire system was becoming obsolete but needed to remain operational until the new one was commissioned, so an update using the existing cabling was not an option. After looking at various solutions, we worked with Hyfire to design a new wireless system that met all the key criteria for the building, with the option to expand or update in future as the building evolves and fire technology continues to advance.”
Hyfire offers a variety of wireless fire devices, ranging from optical, multi-criteria and heat detectors to notification, alarm, interface and control units, all fully certified to EN54. All products are fully compliant with BS5839 Part 1. Wireless translators, which create the communications infrastructure, sit on the standard fire loops of the fire alarm panel. Wireless input and output devices are added to this network to allow the building of fully wireless systems of virtually any size, or mixed with Hyfire wired products to provide seamless hybrid solutions, offering total flexibility to specifiers and installers.
In addition to being the headquarters of St Albans City & District Council, the Civic Centre also houses the city’s main police station and the new St Albans Health and Wellbeing Centre.
Chris McGregor, Regional Sales Manager at Hyfire, said: “The best wireless detection and fire alarm equipment is the equal of traditional wired systems and offers a number of unique benefits. Wireless technology lends itself perfectly to buildings like this one. With no option to update the old system and the design of the building unsuited to new cable runs, Hyfire devices were the ideal solution for the Fire Guard Services team. We estimate that the use of wireless devices reduced installation time, and also labour costs, by around 50 percent compared to a fully wired fire system.
“The Hyfire portfolio includes a full, high performance wired range to support hybrid systems and, on this project, we installed approximately two thirds wireless devices and one third wired. The choice was dictated by the usage of each space and the structure of the building itself. Our bespoke surveying software allows us to design a system that will cover all areas of the building, telling us what components are needed and exactly what the system will cost.”
Helen Ramsay, Building & Facilities Manager at St Albans City & District Council, commented: “A new fire system was clearly required for the Civic Centre, but we did not have the luxury of temporarily closing the building or moving staff elsewhere. Brendon showed us a previous wireless installation his team had completed and the benefits of the Hyfire wireless devices became clear. They deliver everything that a traditional wired system can, without the need for complex wiring and remedial works following the installation of new cable runs.”
