An innovative fire detection and alarm (FDA) solution from Gent by Honeywell has been selected to protect the Goldington Academy in Bedford.
A Gent three panel S-Quad dual optical network has been installed across the middle school’s 1960’s education blocks, including a sports hall and an arts centre/gymnasium. The Goldington Academy, renowned for both its educational standard and its extracurricular activities in sport, music and drama, won Academy status in 2011 and has since been given a ‘good’ Ofsted rating. Now responsible for its own budgets, Goldington Academy was successful in its bid for Academies Capital Maintenance Funding to implement the fire safety improvements.
Fire Safety Services (UK) Ltd, part of the Gent 24 network of systems integrators, carried out the installation, following discussions with Ridge Property and Construction Consultants, and in particular Elton Norris. Fire Safety Services installed a significant number of detectors, sounders and call-points across the campus using the Gent Vigilon system. Gent’s four separate sensing elements in the S-Quad sensors will play a key part in rapid fire detection for the buildings.
Adam Gillespie from Fire Safety Services said: “Reducing false alarms was a key issue in this project. Not only do you have the potential for children setting off the alarms, but there are also environmental factors to consider, such as vapour and smoke being generated in the science labs. To combat this we used the Gent S-Quad sensors, which are extremely reliable at detecting the difference between false alarms and potentially real threats.”