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Around 5,000 detectors from Siemens Building Technologies are being installed as part of a fire protection system for what is being described as a new icon in UK retail.
The Westfield Centre in White City, London is a flagship GB pound 1.6 billion development which, when completed in October, will combine over 150,000 square meters of retail, restaurants, cafes, bars and leisure facilities on a site occupying some 46 acres.
The fire protection contract was awarded to Fire Safety UK who are responsible not only for the detection, but also for the public address and voice alarm systems which will operate in the ‘landlord’ areas of the Centre.
The Sinteso detectors – which carry a ‘Genuine Alarm Guarantee’ – operate on the basis of automatic risk assessment, particularly useful in the challenging environment of the centre’s three-level underground car park given the constant presence of fumes from fuel and vehicle exhausts.
Siemens is also designing and supplying the public address system which incorporates a voice alarm facility to ensure a safe and orderly evacuation in the event of a fire or other emergency situation. The system will be fully networked via dedicated fire resistant fibre optic cabling, with touch-screen microphone consoles located in the fire control centre and security and management suites, as well as pre-recorded announcements and emergency situation and evacuation messages pre-loaded into the system. The system design and configuration will ensure that no individual item of equipment can cause a failure of the system or loss of an emergency brodcast facility, with fault indications reported to the fire alarm detection system and building management system over a monitored link.
One of the major features of the Westfield Centre is its undulating glass roof, with a pavilion offering a vast interior space capable of hosting a wide range of world class events, from live music and fashion shows to cultural exhibitions.