Union Chapel receives new fire detection system from Hyfire

Products from Hyfire were recently specified to upgrade the fire system for Union Chapel, the grade-I listed religious building in London.

Located on Upper Street in Islington, the venue hosts around 200 live music events annually, with income often used to maintain and repair the surrounding buildings – the Chapel itself was built between 1874 and 1890. More than 250 wireless devices have been installed in the building, ranging from heat detectors to notification, alarm, interface and control units, all fully certified to EN54 and compliant with BS5839 Part 1.

Firetecnics Systems were the installers and designers on the project. Virginia Tolosa, Managing Director at the company, said: “Being a listed building, the need for minimum disruption at Union Chapel was imperative. Add to this the very limited timescale to complete the installation before a BBC Songs of Praise broadcast, and the Hyfire wireless devices provided the ideal solution.

“Our team worked with Hyfire to design and specify a system that meets the exact requirements of the building and its users. With different parts of the chapel being used 24/7, being able to slot into the daily workings was a must and our engineers were able to install, programme and commission the system on that basis.”

Peter Catton, Regional Sales Manager at Hyfire, said: “Wireless products are common in every other industry, but are a relatively recent innovation in fire systems. Rapid improvements in quality, reliability and battery life, combined with installation and lifetime advantages, mean that wireless is now a viable solution for all fire systems, offering higher performance than wired alternatives.

“Firetecnics is a company with over 30 years’ experience in the fire sector, and we worked with them to specify a system that would meet the long-term needs of Union Chapel, while also minimising the disruption caused. To allow for the extreme thickness of the walls, additional panels were installed, which alleviated the need to run multiple loops from one location in order to cope with the numerous translators required. The completed system was inspected by the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) and passed first time, with no advisories or updates required.”

Hyfire’s wireless range is said to include all devices required to build a fully wireless commercial fire system, including manual call points, remote indicators, visual indicators, sounders, sounder bases and output/input modules. A range of addressable translators and expanders are available, processing up to 32 devices each, with the scale of the system limited only by the number of devices that the fire panel can handle. To reduce time on site, devices can also be pre-programmed offsite.

Barbara Basini, Head of Conservation and Building Projects at Union Chapel, said: “This isn’t only a historic building, it’s a busy and active church in daily use for worship, live events and charity work. After discussions with Firetecnics and our M&E consultant, we concluded that Hyfire wireless devices would help to minimise the disruption of the new fire system install, reduce the installation time and cost while also providing the long-term protection this architectural gem requires, together with the ability to upgrade or expand the system in the future.”

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