Gent fire solutions protect The O2 Arena
Fire protection for the O2 Arena in London, which includes the huge InterContinental — The O2 hotel, is provided by a solution designed and installed by HESIS of Liverpool. The company is a Gent Technology Centre, and the fully integrated solution integrates four fully networked Vigilon panels alongside Gent’s S-Quad devices.
The hotel has been designed to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standards and comprises 453 guest rooms, five food and beverage outlets, 19 meeting rooms, as well as a spa, pool and gym. Perhaps the most breathtaking part of the development is The Arora ballroom, which can accommodate 3000 people and measures 80 x 39 m.
S-Quad is an intelligent loop-powered multi-functional device that includes a sensor, sounder, speech and EN54-23 certified visual alarm. It has developed an enviable reputation for its ability to prevent unwanted alarms and combines four separate sensing elements — heat, carbon monoxide and dual-angle optical forward and backward scatter.
The BS 5389-compliant category L1 solution is designed to protect life and has automatic detectors in all areas — including roof spaces and voids.
The devices have been configured to deliver a visual alarm and recorded voice message in an emergency.
In the hotel bedrooms, dual optical and heat detection is used to avoid unnecessary unwanted alarms.
With a combination of high ceilings and the need to minimise disruption during maintenance, the conference centre and ballroom use a FAAST aspirating-smoke-detection solution. In these surroundings, point detectors were not viable, while beam detectors, which can be installed at heights of up to 25 m, were not considered practical.
Barry Juggins, managing director of HESIS, summarises, ‘We installed around 2500 Gent devices across the three buildings, which met the customer’s exacting brief.’
