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UNIQLO, Oxford Street, London

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Oxford Street is located in the City of Westminster in the West End of London. It has over 300 shops and receives around half a million visitors per day.

Oxford Street remains in high demand as a retail district and is home to a number of big-brand flagship stores such as Debenhams, House of Fraser, John Lewis, HMV and Selfridges – some of which were the first department stores to open in Britain at the beginning of the 20th Century. Marks & Spencer also has two stores on Oxford Street and the cosmetics retailer, Lush, has their largest retail premises, expanding across three floors.

As well as retail stores, Oxford Street is also home to a number of listed buildings such as The Tottenham public house and a number of music venues such as the 100 Club which has received regular performances from groups such as The Who, The Kinks and The Animals. The London College of Fashion also has a campus on Oxford Street.

UNIQLO

UNIQLO

UNIQLO is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. UNIQLO entered the UK market in 2001 and currently has over nine stores in London, one of which is their recently redeveloped flagship store on Oxford Street.

UNIQLO’s store on Oxford Street first opened in November, 2007 and, at the time, was the largest UNIQLO sales floor space in the world. Now, after almost a year of redevelopment, the store is to reopen as its global flagship.

The redevelopment of the store has included adding two additional floors and a new roof terrace where they will host exclusive events. The new store features a conceptual sales area that is designed to provide a “cultural hub” and will provide an area to host unique events throughout the year. Displays all through the store will feature LED tickers and rotating mannequins.

As with any high-end retail store, UNIQLO’s flagship contains a huge amount of valuable stock that is easily damaged by fire or smoke. On top of this, the unique store design, the mass of visitors that the store receives each day, the staff, the expensive technology and many other aspects all necessitate a fast and reliable fire detection system.

The Requirements

Eurofyre were contacted as specialists suppliers of fire alarm and safety equipment to design and supply a fire alarm system to protect UNIQLO’s flagship store. Using our vast experience and expertise, Eurofyre put together a fire alarm system that could offer fast and reliable detection, taking the following requirements into consideration:

  • Large areas across multiple floors
    The five-storey retail store has a large number of areas spread across all of its floors, the ability to identify a specific area at risk is a must.
  • Large open spaces
    The store has a number of large open spaces and, in parts, high ceilings where conventional type point detectors would be deemed impractical and ineffective.
  • Ceiling voids
    A number of voids present between the building’s floors are used to carry electricity cables and heating and air conditioning ducts. These areas are often dusty and dirty and present a high risk of fire.

The Solution

After careful consideration a fire alarm system was designed to tackle the challenges that were presented.

A large analogue addressable fire alarm system, able to identify the exact area that a fire has been detected was to be the basis for the system provided. Point detectors were used where they were able to provide suitable detection, beam detectors were used to tackle the challenges presented by high ceilings and open spaces and aspirating smoke detection was used to provide fast and reliable detection, with low risk of false alarm, in the ceiling voids.

Components Used

ProFyre A4 Analogue Addressable Fire Alarm Panel

At the heart of the system the ProFyre A4 fire alarm control panel was used. This was combined with two ProFyre repeater panels to provide an analogue addressable system large enough to protect the entire property.

ProFyre Analogue Addressable Smoke and Heat Detectors

ProFyre Analogue Addressable Smoke & Heat Detectors

Over 250 ProFyre smoke and heat detectors were used throughout the property. The ProFyre range of detectors have been designed to complement ProFyre fire alarm control panels. They are housed in a stylish, aesthetically pleasing casing and are loop driven.

ProFyre Analogue Addressable Manual Call Point

ProFyre Analogue Addressable Manual Call Point

ProFyre manual call points are designed to mimic the feel of breaking glass, while providing a resettable operating element. These cost-effective manual call points were used throughout the property.

Maxitone Addressable Sounders

Maxitone sounders are addressable loop sounders that are controlled by the alarm panel. They are designed to provide a range of tones with a high output whilst only requiring a low current for operation.

ProFyre Analogue Addressable Input/Output Module and ProFyre Analogue Addressable Mains Switching IO

ProFyre Input/Output Module with Isolator

These components are required for the fire alarm control panel to control and provide a signal to ancillary equipment during an alarm. This triggers outputs such as operating lift controls, activating suppression systems or stopping ventilation fans etc.

ProFyre P2 Power Supply Unit

ProFyre P2 & P5 Power Supply Units

The ProFyre P2 power supply unit was used to provide a continuous and reliable source of 24DC power to meet the technical and legislative requirements of the fire alarm system.

OSID Open-Area Smoke Imaging Detector

OSID

Open-area smoke imaging detection (OSID) was used to provide a cost-effective, reliable solution to protect the open areas of the business. Unlike traditional beam detection, OSIDs are capable of detecting smoke, without the false alarm incidents and alignment difficulties that are commonly experienced.

EF-FT1 Aspirating Smoke Detector

Eurofyre - EF-FT1

Highly sensitive EF-FT1 aspirating smoke detectors were used to protect the ceiling voids. Theses detectors are capable of providing very early warning of fire across large areas, even in harsh or dusty environments.


For more information on the detection systems that Eurofyre provide or to discuss any of our products please feel free to get in touch either by phone on +44 (0) 1329 835 024, by email to [email protected] or via the online enquiry form situated on our Contact page.

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