GFE chosen to retrofit Istanbul housing complex

November 11, 2022

Following a competitive tender, Global Fire Equipment (GFE) Turkey, was chosen to design, supply and install the fire detection and alarm system for Eston Sehir Mahallem, a prestigious residential development located in the Bahcesehir district of Istanbul, Turkey. Bahçeşehir is an upmarket rural neighbourhood often referred to as the ‘garden city’ due to its abundance of green spaces.

Eston Sehir Mahallem is a peaceful residential development with a striking design which makes the most of outdoor spaces and encourages community living without compromising on residents’ privacy.

The development comprises 315 flats and villas on an area of 68,000 m², 70% of which is dedicated to green areas and social and leisure areas such as pedestrian walkways, bike paths, a children’s park and sports fields. The facilities available to the development’s residents are extensive and include a café, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool, a multipurpose community hall, a PlayStation room, a reading room and a sports centre. The development’s commercial units are all located on the main street.

The design, installation and commissioning of the fire detection system for the development was undertaken by GFE’s appointed distributor in Turkey, GFE Bina Kontrol Sistemleri. GFE’s fire alarm system was chosen because it is modern and innovative, and also because it meets the legislative requirements set by the Turkish Government for residential developments which have become increasingly stringent in recent years.

Turkey is a strategically important region for GFE and GFE Turkey has been operating since 2013, completing a vast range of projects. The country’s population has been increasing year on year and now stands at c. 84.7 million.

The system for Eston Sehir Mahallem comprises 18 addressable control panels, 200 ZEOS addressable smoke detectors, as well as other addressable devices including manual call points, sounders and gas detectors.

Feride Cilesun, Site Manager at Eston Sehir Mahallem, comments: “We went through a rigorous tendering process before appointing GFE as our partner for this project. We have been very impressed with the support and expertise of GFE Turkey at every stage in this project. They were able to give us a working system in a very short space of time which offers extensive configuration options and a great range of value-added features. The quality of all the equipment installed throughout the development is very high, and the technical support and expertise of the GFE team have been invaluable.

“We have been particularly impressed with GFE’s remote monitoring and control software, Odyssey, which allows us to manage the development in a preventative failure manner. Odyssey has also enabled us to integrate the fire detection and alarm system with the development’s third-party public address system and voice alarm system so that in the event of a fire, we are able to quickly and easily notify residents in the affected areas to evacuate their properties. The finished system is very user friendly and reliable, and we now have an ongoing maintenance contract with GFE which we have also been very happy with.”

Murat Efir, Regional Director (Turkey and Balcans) at GFE, who operates out of GFE Turkey’s headquarters in Istanbul and has worked for GFE since 2013, adds: “We were delighted to win the contract for this prestigious residential project. There was strong competition during the tender process and GFE was chosen because of our bespoke approach to the project and our extensive expertise in large-scale projects in the region, including hospitals, hotels, schools and other residential developments. GFE’s reputation in Turkey is very strong and we have experienced significant sales growth over the past eight years. We have stepped up our presence in the region and are continuing to strengthen our customer offering, including the launch of a new Partner Programme and GFE Training Academy later this year. We are also looking forward to launching a number of new products in the coming year, including products that have been designed specifically for the Turkish market such as a detector which is capable of detecting both LPG and PNG leaks.”

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