Apollo & Pacific Fire and Security

At Apollo, we’re dedicated to keeping people safe from fire and that’s why we offer free ongoing advice to buildings managers, housing associations and others on choosing appropriate fire protection for buildings with fire safety concerns such as flammable cladding or compartmentation.

We work closely with our partners across the country who are doing a tremendous job at installing fire detection and alarm systems into the affected buildings. Our partner Pacific Fire and Security Systems Ltd have been heavily involved with large-scale fire detection installations for over 12 High-rise residential buildings throughout the UK.

Sydnee Gibson, Director at Pacific Fire & Security talks about their experiences...

Over the past 18 months, we have seen a demand for fire protection for High-rise buildings like never before. Each building has posed unique and complicated challenges, something Pacific have had to abide by and follow with intense detail and accuracy to ensure that nothing was left to chance.

To fulfil client expectations and provide a system that would go above and beyond, it’s crucial that the correct product selection is made. For us at Pacific, the Apollo XPander wireless range is the obvious choice.

The XPander range allowed quick deployment in a situation that desperately needed it. Flammable cladding, lack of efficient detection and logistical issues of getting in residential areas meant that it was imperative the detection choice was quick to install with minimal wiring. XPander allowed us to provide detection coverage quickly and with minimal disruption to the tenants living within the premise. This would have been so much harder to achieve with a wired option. The detectors were simple for our engineers to program onto the system and are an extremely effective way of providing sophisticated coverage in all areas of the building. Although there are many wireless options on the market, none of them have the same radio strength and consistency that the Apollo XPander range offers – it was the obvious choice for us.

Gaining access to private residential dwellings is never easy, especially when there are so many of them in one project. Building relationships with those that own and rent the flats, as well as the concierge service, was crucial to get the work completed on time and to ensure minimal disruption. Careful scheduling allowed us to maximise our time onsite and get into as many areas as possible and the quick and easy deployment of the XPander devices ensured that our visit would not be disruptive to those that were living there.

When working on these High-rise projects, we need to work carefully to ensure we meet the client’s needs financially. The XPander units are not only competitively priced but were also able to minimise costs in other areas. For example, cutting down the cost and time of redecoration that is involved after installing a classic hardwired system. With the XPander units, we simply designed where each head was to be placed and installed with minimal mess and disruption. This is especially important when you are working in a mixture of residential and commercial areas, where any making good can quickly become costly and time consuming to organise.

The chosen product also needed to effectively incorporate the essence of adaptability. Pacific were ahead of the curve regarding the new British Standards 8629:2019, which set out requirements of Evacuation Alert Systems that the Fire and Rescue service can use in the event of an emergency. Pacific used the XPander range to create a system architecture that could easily be adapted to meet these new standards. The detection choice also future proof’s the client’s investment providing flexibility due to their mobile nature and being able to communicate with the open protocol Advanced fire panels. We favour the Advanced MxPro range of panels, so being able to have XPander detection seamlessly integrated worked perfectly for us. We were able to have our first option of fire panel, as well as a detection system that works harmoniously together.

When working on the series of High-rise fire detection projects, delivering a solution that meets the needs of our clients within time and budget restraints is crucial. Our customers have been extremely pleased with the XPander wireless solutions we have integrated. The systems are efficient, future-proof and provide superior detection in the event of an emergency. We will continue to recommend the use of XPander for future High-rise residential projects as well as other applicable applications.

If Apollo can help you with product selection, or explaining the regulations for High-rise residential buildings, contact Stacey Adams, Business Development Manager at solutions@apollo-fire.com