Intelligent fire panels from the manufacturer Advanced have been chosen to protect the National Theatre in London after an £89m redevelopment.
Located on London’s Southbank, the National Theatre has played host to some of the most important productions in British Theater, by some of the world’s most famous actors and directors.
World-Beating performance
Opened in 1976 to provide the National Theatre company with its first permanent home, it is well known for its ‘Brutalist’ architecture. The site includes three auditoria, the Olivier Theater, Lyttelton Theater, and Dorfman Theater. The National Theatre is open to the general public and is a focus for cultural activities on the Southbank and also includes a learning center, restaurants, a riverside bar, and a bookshop.
The National Theatre is open to the general public and is a focus for cultural activities on the Southbank
The contract for the new fire system at the National Theatre was awarded to the team at Tri-Management, who specified a network of 12 MxPro 5 panels from Advanced. MxPro 5 is the industry’s leading multiprotocol fire panel range and is renowned for its world-beating performance, quality, and ease of use.
Fire panel range
Tony O’Connell, Business Development Manager at Tri-Management, said: “With the timescale we had to install the system at the National Theater, it was an easy decision to select Advanced panels, as they are one of the simplest systems to install and program. We have used their panels in many of our installations and the new system will provide the Theatre, industry-leading protection that that can be easily expanded in the future.”
In total, 3,000 loop devices were installed on the MxPro 5 network, linked by 16.5 miles of cable. Detection included aspirating systems in the auditoria and stage areas, along with heat and smoke detectors elsewhere. The Tri-Management team carried out the successful panel upgrade at the National Theatre in a single weekend with of all the programming and pre-planning done offsite.
Gas suppression system
The National Theatre is used by thousands of people every day for lots of diverse activities"
Further to this fantastic effort, the district surveyor was in the following morning to witness test the fire system, sprinklers, and gas suppression system installed, and expressed they were extremely happy with the improved performance at the theater.
Amanda Hope, Head of UK Business Development for Advanced, added: “Our MxPro 5 panel range offers the performance, reliability, and flexibility required by a site such as the National Theater. The panels were part of a complete overhaul of the old system and the ability to have them installed in such as constricted time frame shows how versatile they are.”
Single panel format
Mark Ward, Facilities Service Manager for the National Theatre, commented: “The National Theatre is used by thousands of people every day for lots of diverse activities and we need a fire system that offers peace of mind to everyone. The Advanced system specified by Tri-Management provides the most up to date fire protection that can be easily expanded as we grow.”
MxPro offers a choice of two-panel ranges, four protocols, and an open installer base supported by free training and tech support. Approved to EN54 parts 2, 4, and 13, MxPro 5 panels can be used in single loop, single panel format or easily configured into high speed, 200-panel networks covering huge areas and tens of thousands of field devices. Advanced’s legendary ease of installation and configuration and wide peripheral range mean that MxPro is customizable to almost any application.
