Intelligent fire detection safeguards suites hotel
Intelligent fire-detection systems from Advanced Electronics form the basis of an integrated fire solution for Newcastle’s newest hotel. Staybridge Suites Hotels has 128 fully equipped and serviced suites for extended-stay business travellers. It also has a fitness room, business centre, dining area, laundry and 2-level external car park.
The L1 fire system was design and installed by CDS Security & Fire. It consists of a single Mx-4802, 8-loop fire-alarm control panel monitoring over 300 fire sensors and devices from Apollo Fire Detectors’ Discovery range. DDA-compliant systems are installed in six dedicated suites for the hearing impaired, using a strobe and vibration pad under the pillow.
Kevin Ramsden, the hotel’s facilities manager, explains, ‘In the unlikely event of a nuisance or false alarm, the system allows to investigate the problem without first evacuating the building, an important consideration for our guests.’
Sophisticated cause-and-effect programming in the Mx-4802 panel enables the sounder and beacon on the Apollo combined unit to be controlled separately to increase flexibility.
If an alarm is triggered from a detector in a suite, the local sounder and beacon are activated, as well as the main control panel to alert staff. If the alarm is not reset within five minutes, a full fire alarm is raise, causing the building to be evacuated. The five-minute delay allows staff to check if an alarm is false or real.
As well as triggering phased evacuation using a voice alarm system, the Mx-4802 interfaces with other systems in the hotel to help stop the spread of fire and aid evacuation.
For example, lifts are repositioned to different floors depending on the location of the fire, doors and barriers are opened by the access-control system, gas shutdown and ventilation are controlled via the BMS, and the sprinklers are monitored.
