Key Highlights

• ADT implements Cardiff County Council's  transition to MZX digital technology
• Automatic fire isolation on detection
• Old fire detection hardware recycled

Situation

Since it opened in 1989, the ADT Fire & Security system has safeguarded the County Hall without incident and was the ideal company to continue to provide fire protection.
 
Cardiff County Hall is the administrative centre for Cardiff Council and is situated in the Atlantic Wharf area of Butetown, Cardiff.  In addition to housing councillors and other council officials, the building offers several function rooms and suites, which can seat up to 300 guests, meaning the building is in continuous use, with a constant flow of staff and visitors. 

There were several key issues that Cardiff County Council needed to address. The first was to ensure the system specified offered an exceptionally fast response for the emergency services.

Solution

ADT Fire & Security upgraded the fire protection system at Cardiff County Hall with its latest MZX Technology® to ensure the multi-purpose venue benefits from a robust and reliable digital fire detection system increasing safety on site. In addition, Cardiff County Hall took advantage of ADT Fire & Security's recycling scheme to help minimise environmental waste during the upgrade. 

ADT Fire & Security’s new digitally based system incorporates an innovative damper panel interface, which, in the event of a fire, can recognise the air conditioning ducts and signal to a further control panel to shut them down - preventing the fire from spreading in this way. The digital upgrade will also mean that if a fire should start, along with the traditional fire alert messages, a number of predetermined doors will close, which will isolate the fire and help to protect the escape routes.

In addition, the team at Cardiff County Hall decided to take advantage of ADT Fire & Security's recycling scheme to help minimise environmental waste. Designed to support existing Minerva fire detection systems, the innovative scheme aims to lower the cost of system upgrades and reduce electrical waste.  ADT Fire & Security will recycle the old equipment so that certain parts can be used to support the new system. 

Bob Evans, Electrical Engineer at Cardiff County Council commented, “ADT’s fire and smoke detection systems can identify the signs of fire at the earliest possible stages and can pinpoint its location across large premises, which is exactly what we need for our large council offices that house hundreds of visitors and staff each day.”

Results

Glyn Davies, Building Supervisor from Cardiff County Hall control room concludes, “The safety of staff and visitors here at Cardiff County Hall is top of the agenda and for such a large venue, only the best fire detection system will do. ADT Fire & Security installed the system promptly, causing no disruption to the working day.  It’s reassuring to know that we are protected by the latest intelligent digital system that will not only provide early detection, but will isolate any fires, should one occur.”