Liverpool John Lennon Airport

HESIS replaced an obsolete fire alarm system at one of the UK’s busiest airports, in a live environment in which full functionality at all times was critical to passenger safety.

Scope

The existing fire alarm system at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) was obsolete, requiring LJLA to undertake a significant technological investment in critical life safety systems to enable quick and efficient response to emergencies. With over 400,000 people passing through the airport per month, the reliability of the fire alarm system is crucial, not only to rapidly identify the source of a fire, but to distinguish a false alarm from a real event. In the event of a real fire, the engineering team need to have control over the crisis with maximum visibility of the incident.

HESIS were tasked with replacing the obsolete fire alarm system with our technology of choice: the Honeywell Gent system. The challenge was to upgrade over three phases, during the daytime and evenings whilst the airport was fully operational. This created a unique challenge, as the building needs to have a fully functioning fire alarm at all times.

Delivery

The majority of the design work was completed in a live environment, using the VAD design tools provide by Honeywell Gent. This allowed HESIS to plot the dimensions of all areas, using an app to test Lux levels for compliant design.

The new system comprised of three fully networked new Honeywell Gent Vigilon fire alarm panels, allowing full functionality, visibility and control from several different locations.

As part of the project there was also a requirement to interface with other systems onsite, including the PA/VA voice alarm system, and access control, along with all of the commercial units around LJLA. The largest challenge was the full integration and mapping of the Cortech platform, which was again carried out by the HESIS engineering team.

Outcome

The upgrade took place in the live airport environment, whilst keeping the original system operational, ensuring the safety of the passengers was a priority at all times.

The new network, installed specifically for the three main panels, is running successfully, providing full coverage from different locations. Fully designed, installed and commissioned by HESIS, with no disruption to passengers, LJLA has now been upgraded to EN54- Part 23 and BS5839 Part 1:2017 compliance. HESIS delivered a robust, intelligent system to address the issue of adequate fire protection in the distinctive high-volume facility of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.