EMS Radio Fire & Security has provided a wire-less fire detection solution as part of the City of London Corporation’s £4.5m refurbishment of the historic landmark.
MPE Alarms installed the 5000 FirePoint system from EMS, as part of an overall refurbishment programme carried out by the Cathedral Works Organisation. The wire free nature of the system meant it provided an effective solution for the historic building. As the tallest isolated column in the world, the monument has 311 steps taking visitors to the top. Running cabling this distance up the interior staircase of the column would not only have been prohibitively expensive, it would also have been detrimental to the interior aesthetics of the structure.
Instead, the 5000 FirePoint provides a fully guaranteed method of protecting both the building and some 100,000 annual visitors from fire. The system consists of a main fire panel, combined with sensor/sounder units and call points. Relying on approved radio frequencies to communicate across the whole system, instead of lengths of costly fire rated cabling, the system has full analogue capability. The sensors are fully compatible with the requirements of BS5839 part 4 and EN54/2.
Installation of EMS’s 5000 FirePoint is quick and easy – there is no need for drilling, routing or filling service runs, leaving the fabric of the building undamaged. Instead the contractor can simply fix the units to the required mounting surface and switch on to commission the system. With no wires, there is also less cost for the end client, while the contractor is protected from fluctuating cable prices too.
“There is no irony in the fact that a fire protection system has been installed at the monument designed to mark the occasion that London was burnt to the ground,” said Ray Puttock, Marketing Manager for EMS Radio Fire & Security, “All buildings must provide effective detection and protection systems. However, the use of an advanced wire-free solution has certainly brought this historic structure right up to date, while the use of radio technology means that the aesthetics created by Sir Christopher Wren are not compromised.”
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