Wireless Fire Alarm System for Lancaster Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St. Peter & St. Thomas More Lancaster.
Client Diocese of Lancaster Contact Father Shield
Contractor S S Systems Ltd.
Contract Completion March 2003
Lancaster Cathedral Description
The Cathedral is of traditional construction sited on a hill overlooking the ancient city of Lancaster. All of the worship area is at ground floor level and an adjoining Cathedral house provides accommodation for the resident and visiting clergy.
The radio fire alarm system was installed throughout the whole of the premises over a period of 2 weeks. The fire system performance specification was prepared by the Cathedral Architect in conjunction with English Heritage who provided grant aid towards the cost.
The design was finalised by the contractor who assisted with a radio survey and technical advice regarding detection using aspirating pipework as well as smoke tests to determine the smoke travel characteristics of the building. The building construction made a traditional hardwired system costly and impractical whilst the wire free system overcame all of these difficulties.
The installation of wire free point detectors was quickly completed without any disruption to normal daily activities. The nave and reredos, being of appreciable height, required special consideration for smoke detection and this was achieved with the use of highly sensitive aspirating detection sampling at high level with interconnecting pipework.
The pipe work was installed such that it is difficult to see from ground level leaving the heritage values intact. A specialist scaffolding company was employed to provide access to the clerestory level where sampling pipework was installed. Handheld pagers provide the user with a remote information facility whether the event is fire or fault. Since incense is often used in Catholic services special consideration was given to this eventuality without detriment to the day to day protection of the building.
The final design incorporated key switch operated isolation of the aspiration system and automatically timed reset using radio technology once more to the advantage of a grateful client.
