Feature Fire Safety Helping to inspire sporting greatness
Demonstrating its suitability for UK sporting venues, Apollo’s fire detection system has been installed at The Kia Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club, and Brighton and Hove Albion FC’s new home, the American Express Community Stadium
O
ne-hundred-and-fifty years old, the Kia Oval plays host to thousands of sports fans each year and traditionally hosts the final test match of the English cricket season.
Following the re-development of the
Vauxhall End, TVF (UK) undertook the design and installation of fire detection systems into The Pavilion, Lock and Laker Stands at the Pavilion End, which also houses the exclusive Kennington Club, committee rooms and museum. Apollo was chosen by TVF to provide an open protocol system that could pro- tect one of the most distinctive stands in international cricket.
The installation, engineered to suit the environment, consisted of a hybrid of Apollo’s Discovery hard wired and XPander radio ranges, working in con- junction with an Advanced control panel in each stand. With 20 zones for each stand, over 200 optical detectors were installed along with 30 call points and in excess of 30 loop inter- faces/XPander radio devices. John Baker at TVF explained some of the challenges behind the installa- tion, “The Pavilion End is an iconic part of the Kia Oval. It’s traditional rooms are packed with history. As such, Apollo’s wireless detector range, XPander, was the obvious choice allowing us to install with minimum disruption to both the members and the decor. There are also a number of more functional areas in the club, such as the kitchen and plant rooms, where we were able to fit Discovery products.”
The installation at the Pavilion End follows on from TVF’s installation of Apollo Discovery call points and detec- tors in the Lock and Laker Stand 18 months earlier. This experience has put TVF in a good position to understand the unique demands of this environment. Baker continued, “Any venue hosting a variety of large scale events needs a robust and accurate fire detection system. As such, we have installed a system with double knock detectors (alarms are only sounded if two detec- tors are activated - helping to minimise false alarms) and one that links to other gates in the ground. In addition, there are lamp buzzers in key areas allowing
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for operational match day crowd man- agement to ensure a controlled evacua- tion, should one ever be needed.”
From the old to the new Brighton and Hove Albion’s new American Express Community Stadium was opened in 2011 and con- sists of four stands with a 27,444 capacity. The West Stand, its largest, also includes 14 luxury boxes and the premium fans’ 1901 Club. As well as football matches, the stadium is designed to host other sports, music concerts, conferences and exhibitions. The stadium incorporates a ban- queting and conference facility, office space, and a club shop and a bar. The long awaited £100m venue has been built to the very highest specifi- cation, incorporating features from other stadia around the world. To ensure this venue and its visitors and staff were adequately protected, VCP Services was called in to provide the fire detection system. Vince Clamp, managing director at VCP Services, explained, “In 2009 we were asked to provide a range of facili- ties for the build. As well as the fire detection system we were contracted to install access control, intruder alarms, disabled refuge, PAVA and CCTV. It’s always good to be involved in the early stage of a build and as this was a completely new venue, we were able to ensure that any fire detection system fitted with the look and feel of the site and also provided appropriate levels of coverage. “We used Discovery Multisensor throughout the stadium, including the stands, ancillary spaces such as the kitchen and plant room, and the con- ferencing areas. This product com- prises of a smoke and temperature sensor. The outputs can be reported individually which means a rise in temperature and/or change in level of smoke can be checked separately, improving false alarm management. The sensitivity selection offered by the range was also vital as it allowed us to change the response mode on individ- ual detectors depending on where they were sited. For example, the detectors had a lower sensitivity to fire in areas where smoke and steam would be
Above: an Apollo XP95 input/output interface was used to protect the conference rooms at the American Express Community Stadium
Below: Apollo’s Discovery hard wired and XPander radio ranges were installed at the Kia Oval in London
expected - such as the kitchen. “Apollo’s open protocol approach was also essential. Apollo publishes and shares information including tech- nical data, enabling panel manufactur- ers and other companies to design compatible controlling equipment. As an installer, it means we are not tied to using one manufacturer but can fit the best product for the site. In this instance, a unique architectural fea- ture of the build made an open proto- col approach essential.
“In most of the conference rooms they have what is described as ‘wave’ ceilings - amazing sculptural shapes designed to replicate the nearby sea. The nature of these ceilings means there are large voids above the plaster which had to be protected by an aspi- rated system. Conventional detectors covered the space below but the system had to work together so we used an Apollo XP95 input/output interface. The interface, which is engi- neered simply, removes the need for custom designed equipment and allows the aspirated system and con- ventional detectors to run on the same loop. It is also fitted with a bi-direc- tional short circuit isolator meaning it would be unaffected by a single short circuit on either loop input or output.” The installation of all of the equip- ment took twelve months and, having recently completed phase two of the East Stand, VCP has installed more than 700 detectors across 189 zones using five Advanced Mx4400 panels. The team will also be completing the installation of fire detection equip- ment at the club’s brand new training ground which will be linked to the sta- dium’s building management system.
Apollo
www.apollo-fire.co.uk T: 023 9249 2412
Enter 209 MAY 2013 Electrical Engineering
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