Hochiki Europe replaces fire system for bank HQ
The replacement of the fire-detection system in one of the largest banks in Belgium involved removing and replacing over 4600 sensors and replacing them with Hochiki Europe products. The headquarters building of this bank has seven storeys and a large atrium. Over 2500 workers and visitors pass through its doors every day.
The work was carried out by VSK Electronics, which had already carried out work on the building’s security and access-control infrastructure. This latest project required the building to continue to function as normal and disruption to be kept to a minimum.
Two months was allowed for the job. Teams of four to six technicians worked almost round the clock. Most of the work in voids and ceilings was carried out at night.
Sandy Dubaere of VSK explains, ‘We installed the 16 FalconNet control panels first so we could then install the detectors in zones, line by line. There were 7 zones in total, and we also had to strategically connect new loops via a dual operation system to ensure complete coverage and protection during the project.’
4300 ALG-EN optical smoke sensors were installed. By minimising the differences in sensitivity experienced in flaming and smouldering fires, these devices are highly responsive and help to minimise the possibility of unwanted alarms. There are also 350 multi-heat sensors and 160 call points.
For the atrium, the Xtralis OSID beam detector was installed.
The fire-detection network is linked to the Xtralis M3000 security-management system, which is used to control and monitor the whole fire and security infrastructure.
