On another major London development that’s currently underway, Bull Products’ Cygnus wireless fire alarm system is being used for fire safety during the construction phase.
Royal Wharf is a visionary mixed development located in East London’s Royal Docks on 40 acres of land where nearly 3,400 homes are being created as well as commercial, retail, leisure and educational facilities for a new and vibrant London district. This brand new riverside district of Royal Wharf builds on the success of Canary Wharf and the 2012 Olympics and underlines the movement to the east of London’s centre of gravity. It is due for completion in 2019.
The Cygnus system has been installed widely across the Royal Wharf development. Some 249 Cygnus fire call points are located in stairwells and on escape routes, all linked to a central Cygnus CYG1 control panel. Each of the Cygnus fire call point alarms are IP65 rated and so can be used externally. All are linked to the central control panel, and each alarm has a 110 decibel sounder and an LED beacon for visual alerts. The Cygnus control panel captures data wirelessly from all the fire alarm call points and shows active alarms and faults and all events are recorded into a file which can be viewed or downloaded. Amongst other features of the control panel is an evacuate site function which can be used in case of an emergency.
Electrical and mechanical subcontractors on the development, EMS are delighted with the performance of the Cygnus system. Sean Gretka, Senior Estimator for EMS commented, “Since being introduced to the Cygnus wireless alarm products, our confidence in this system just continues to grow with every project we install it on. It is easy to use, even easier to install and is fit for purpose in the construction industry. This accompanied with Bull Products’ aftercare and customer support makes them an easy recommendation to any of our clients.”
The Cygnus alarm system can link as many as 480 alarm and detector units in different zones on a site, and individual units can be fire alarm call points, first aid alerts, combined call points and first aid alerts, smoke detectors or heat detectors.
The CE marked Cygnus system has been developed for use on construction sites where there is dense concrete and steel structured buildings and areas where there are many other radio frequencies in operation, and so particular attention has been given to achieving an impressive connection range. Where there are multiple sites within range of each other, the Cygnus system has been designed to operate on different site addresses in order to keep each system separate and free from interference.
A major benefit of the Cygnus system is the optional control panel which provides a very sophisticated capability with an event log function which records any events such as an alarm activation, low battery warning, and signal faults, all of which can be viewed if necessary in the history folder held on the panel. The system also has the ability to test all units and has an evacuate function which will act as a call point to the rest of the alarm units.
Every device in the system can provide the panel with information at regular intervals. This explicit information confirms the unit is still present and what the battery status of each device is. Known as the ‘heart beat’ this message is monitored by the control panel where fitted and if the ‘heart beat’ is not heard for several intervals, the control panel logs a full status for that unit. A PIR option is now available on any of the modules which can detect an intruder and alert off-site personnel for added safety protection.
Bull Products offers a full one-year guarantee on all Cygnus devices and provides high levels of technical, on-site and after-sales service support in addition to its standard maintenance contracts.
