Comelit-PAC fire system installed at Booth Hall

by Featured NewsProjects

Comelit-PAC’s fire system has been installed by CFS Systems on an 800-room student accommodation complex at Crewe’s new medical health science campus.

The Apollo Buckingham Health Science Campus (ABHSC) offers degrees in biomedical sciences as well as medical foundation and conversion courses for health workers.  The campus is majority owned by the University of Buckingham and Apollo and could have at least 3,000 students at the Crewe site by 2024.

Offering on-campus student accommodation at Booth Hall, the development includes 800 bedrooms, with a mix of communal spaces and facilities, including extended learning zones, meeting rooms and a gymnasium.

CFS Systems carried out a full risk assessment of the site to install the latest fire safety systems, with a nine-panel network and over 2000 devices.

Amanda Watson, Head of Operations at Apollo Buckingham Health Science Campus said: “The University of Buckingham’s Crewe campus offers students the opportunity to gain experience and relevant skills, combining a variety of courses with authentic clinical and laboratory experiences in a multi-professional learning environment”.

“Situated on the grounds of the Crewe campus, the student-friendly town is ideal for both learning and socialising.  Student welfare is a top priority and this includes at Booth Hall, ensuring fire safety and security measures are kept up to date and compliant.  Here, CFS Systems carried out a complete risk assessment and made recommendations, advising us on the best course of action, including installation of Comelit-PAC systems.”

User friendly

CFS Systems selected Comelit-PAC’s specialist fire safety solution, featuring a user friendly touch screen system, installing eight addressable panels, one per block and a new style repeater panel in the main reception area.

Finished in line with Comelit-PAC’s focus on aesthetics, it is fully networkable with the opportunity to expand with a facility or building requirement.

Craig Forster, Operations Director at CFS Systems commented: “If you’re responsible for fire safety in any kind of accommodation – halls of residence, rented flats or privately rented accommodation – there are considerable obligations to do everything possible to minimise the risk of fire”. 

“This includes a great level of responsibility to carry out fire risk assessments, identifying potential fire hazards and ensuring complete fire safety.  We did this at Booth Hall and installed Comelit-Pac, quickly and efficiently, as a system that could accommodate the sheer size of the development and remain simple to use and operate for all students and staff on site.”

Mandy Bowden, Fire Manager at Comelit-PAC concluded: “Fire safety is essential to any premises. In a student accommodation complex, there are special considerations to comply with latest legislation and maintain the safety of students, visitors and all staff”.   

“We worked closely with CFS Systems from training and initial design of the system, paying close attention to the bespoke requirements of Booth Hall.  We ensured the products were delivered quickly, to negate any need for a delay in the installation programme of works.  The result is a high quality, robust fire safety system that complies with latest legislation to offer the essential protection required.”

Ministry of Justice enlists OFR for fire engineering guidance on new prisons

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Fire engineering consultancy OFR Consultants has been appointed to several high-profile projects throughout the UK, supporting clients in the custodial, aviation and healthcare sectors, including a body of work with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

OFR has been appointed to work on fire engineering strategies for new prisons in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire.

The new prisons will be created as part of the Alliance 4 New Prisons (A4NP) programme, a project that will see the development of four new adult male prisons built by ISG, Kier, Laing O’Rourke and Wates – a group of Tier 1 contractors working together as part of the government’s Construction Playbook.

The A4NP will develop a standardised design that will then be applied across each of the four prison sites, building on the approach of the MoJ pathfinder common design prisons at HMP Five Wells and Glen Parva.

Speaking of the appointment OFR design director Richard Rankin said: “This is a unique sector, and we are proud to be a part of this ambitious new approach by the MoJ.

“The custodial sector requires unique thinking, and my colleagues and I are preparing fire strategies that will consider the complexities and layout of prisons, evolving an idea that will accommodate each individual site, while also accounting for the standardised design approach. It is an exciting opportunity, and we are delighted to be involved.”

Hospital refurbishment

OFR has also undertaken a new £330m project with the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust to refurbish an existing hospital and build a new facility, with the news coming just weeks after OFR announced the appointment of more new colleagues to its team; the consultancy now employs 115-colleagues across seven UK offices in Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Oxford, Bath and London. In Q4 2022, the company also welcomed new graduates, part of its commitment to investing in and nurturing future engineering talent.

Rich added: “Since 2016, we have grown to become one of the UK’s leading fire engineering consultancies, developing our business and growing our team by nurturing a strong culture and investing in great people. The result is a motivated team working with clients across the world to deliver fire engineering strategies that protect people, place and planet.

“I’m really proud of the new work we are delivering together and look forward to bringing these new projects to fruition.”

Comelit-PAC makes multi-million pound leisure complex fire safe

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A new multi-million pound leisure centre, owned by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, is now fire safe thanks to a partnership with Secur-It specifying Comelit-PAC’s integrated solution.

The new £26m Marina Centre leisure complex on Great Yarmouth’s seafront, was designed to replace the old 1980s built centre.  With work starting in January 2021, it reopened in August 2022.

Operated by Freedom Leisure, the new facility features a six-lane swimming pool, learner pool and aqua play area with flumes, a 120-station gym, a four court sports hall, 10m indoor climbing zone, three studios and community spaces.

Says Freedom Leisure Area Manager Martin Marsh: “The opening of our new centre is a very exciting chapter for Great Yarmouth, and a significant investment that we are thrilled to present to our guests.  Whilst its core objective is to offer the latest and greatest facilities; it’s integral that it can be enjoyed in a fire safe and secure environment.   

“We worked in partnership with the main contractors, right from the early stages of the design, and specification of fire safety was a key priority.  The team could offer advice, recommendations and practical support on how and where to install measures to blend with their surroundings, without affecting the experience for our staff and guests.”

Main contractors Morgan Sindall worked with Secur-It right from initial design processes to incorporate Comelit-PAC’s fire safety solutions. This included integrating the fire safety with the access control, turnstile and security services alongside the PA system. 

Arnaud Marosi, Secur It Commercial Director added: “By specifying Comelit-PAC at The Marina Centre, we could present a fire system that balances offering a high performance life safety solution, without interfering with the natural flow of a busy leisure centre.  

“With excellent technical support available, we were able to integrate seamlessly with the security and PA system to enable staff to speed up response time and advise guests about the safest emergency route.  We could also install around the facilities without impacting on look or feel.  The result is a wonderful example of a new complex that is already making a big impact on its community, secure in the knowledge it’s doing so with all due care and attention to fire safety.”

In total, for the Marina Leisure Centre complex, the 20 zone fire safety system specified from Comelit-PAC included a 4 loop addressable panel, a repeater and 383 devices which included detectors, call points, sounders and visual alarm devices.

Mandy Bowden, Comelit-PAC Fire Manager concluded: “By considering the fire detection and alarm systems early in the programme of works, we could specify a tailor made, integrated and inclusive solution without impacting on its function, aesthetics or appearance.  The result once installed is so much more than a safe and secure leisure centre, but also a fantastic facility for residents’ health and wellbeing, and for the visitors to Great Yarmouth to enjoy.”

C-TEC installs fire protection system at Welsh listed building

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C-TEC’s CAST XFP fire system has been installed at a spiritual retreat in Llangollen, North Wales.

Located in Ceiriog Valley, Tan-Y-Garth Hall is a Grade II listed house built in 1915. Owned by the International Hermeneutic Society, it provides a ‘spiritual haven’ for people interested in yoga, meditation, art, music and science.

The Society’s plans to additionally utilise the building as a hotel meant the existing manual fire alarm system had to be replaced to comply with the relevant regulations. Fire specialist company, Allied Fire Alarms & Escapes Ltd, specified an L1 category fire alarm system to provide the highest standard for the protection of life.

Featuring an XFP CAST panel connected to an array of heat, smoke and multi-sensor devices, the powerful system is designed to deliver the earliest possible warning should a fire occur at the historic 17-bedroomed hall, a popular venue for group workshops, location shoots, exhibitions and performances.

John Westerman, Allied’s Managing Director: “The entire project went exceptionally smoothly as CAST’s soft addressing feature makes installation and commissioning fast and easy – devices can be programmed at the panel so you don’t need to walk around site to physically program each one. The innate flexibility of the system also means that, if the needs of the site change in the future, devices can be easily adjusted via the panel’s programming tools to meet the client’s exact specification.”

“We chose CAST for its simplicity yet effectiveness in the field, specifically XFP CAST because of its compactness and functionality. When we handed over the system to our client, they were clearly impressed by its user-friendliness and capacity to be adapted in the future.”

Conceived and designed by C-TEC as part of a 10-year, multi-million-pound project, CAST is the world’s most-advanced ‘distributed intelligence’ fire alarm system protocol. CAST’s cutting-edge control panels, detection and alarm devices are all designed and manufactured at the company’s state-of-the-art UK manufacturing facility to guarantee that every single component integrates to create systems that work perfectly – from a simple ‘one out, all out’ system to a sophisticated multi-panel networked system.

The Art of Banksy Exhibition gets protection from Advanced and Hyfire

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North west installers Fire Queen Limited combined an Advanced Go fire panel with wireless devices from Hyfire to protect artwork at The Art of Banksy exhibition, housed in a temporary venue at Media City, Manchester. 

The Fire Queen team were given just a week to survey, specify and install a BS5839-1-2017-compliant fire system to protect the exhibition, which housed a range of the street artist’s most iconic works.

Using a combination of the Advanced Go Quick Edit tool and the Hyfire Taurus app, combined with active support from the teams at both brands, it was possible to deliver a system in record time that met all the requirements of the event organisers and their insurers. 

Jan Myatt, Operations Manager at Fire Queen said: “We are familiar with carrying out wireless installations within realistic timescales, but the secrecy that surrounds anything to do with Banksy meant that this was really short notice.

“Luckily, thanks to our long-standing partnerships with Advanced and Hyfire, and in-depth knowledge of what their products can deliver, we were able to design and install the system in record time. It was a real team effort and we’re so grateful to both teams for their knowledge and support.” 

Mark Piert, Regional Sales Manager – North West at Hyfire, commented: “When the call came from Fire Queen, it was action stations. The good thing is that Hyfire devices are designed to work seamlessly with Advanced panels, and this is exactly the sort of installation where wireless comes into its own, so we were able to devise a suitable system in a matter of days. When you’re safeguarding artworks worth millions, as well as the people in the building, you feel a sense of responsibility, but we have 100% confidence in our product and its ability to deliver.” 

Phil Calvey, Sales Manager at Advanced added: “This is a great example of close collaboration to deliver on a complex and urgent brief. It’s so exciting to be protecting an internationally significant event like this and the fact that we were able to deliver the system so rapidly shows the level of support and expertise offered by all involved. The Go panel is the latest addition to our panel portfolio and as a single-loop, non-networkable panel it’s ideal for smaller, standalone installations, offering all the desired performance, quality and ease of use in locations where multi-panel networking is not required.”