The Kelvinside Academy is a renowned private school in the City of Glasgow, founded in 1878. It has capacity for around 600 pupils spanning from nursery through to A-Level. Located in the Kelvinside area of the north of Glasgow, near the city’s Botanical Gardens, the site consists of the main school building, which is Category A listed, and a number of more modern additions.
One of the annexes opposite the main school building is a traditional sandstone townhouse, where the Academy’s language department is based. Despite the more modern interior, the main wireless fire alarm system had become prone to faults and eventually failed completely.
Fire alarm system
In October last year, the bursar at the Kelvinside Academy commissioned Rapid Fire Services, Scotland’s highly experienced specialists in fire protection and security systems to rectify the issue. The company advised a complete upgrade of the fire alarm system, recommending a specific solution from Gent by Honeywell’s comprehensive range of fire detection and alarm products.
Gavin Taylor, Rapid Fire Services, explained, “The original system, which had been manufactured and installed by a third party, was constantly faulting before it failed completely - so the biggest priority was to choose a solution that would offer maximum reliability and protection. Whenever we’re involved in a new project, Gent is always our first choice. We’ve been installing its products for a number of years as they offer complete peace of mind to our customers.”
Vigilon Compact has all of the functionality of the larger Vigilon panel
The system recommended for the Academy’s annexe was the Gent Vigilon Compact, which is ideal for small to medium sized buildings. Vigilon Compact has all of the functionality of the larger Vigilon panel, offering advanced sensing technology and powerful software processing that quickly identifies real fires.
Gent Vigilon Compact
Taylor continued, “We upgraded the fire alarm to an L2 classification system. The design included the analogue addressable panel specified with one detection loop, accommodating around 60 devices consisting of call points, detectors and sounders. The Vigilon Compact panel was installed with Gent’s S-Quad multi-sensor technology, which combines speech, sounder and strobe in one device to give the building the most advanced sensing technologies with alarm functionality.”
The Gent system was installed in the annexe building during October 2012, while the teachers, pupils and staff were on their half-term break. The fire system has been positively received and Rapid Fire Services will continue its close working relationship with Kelvinside Academy by carrying out the maintenance and repair across the school’s entire site.