Cloud Student Homes provides students with comfortable, convenient accommodation, with 17 different types of rooms available at the Canterbury Student Village which is easily accessible to three universities, Canterbury Christchurch, University of Kent and UCA, as well as Canterbury College. With fire safety a priority it was vital to replace the existing fire alarm system in Kentish House, Behn Hall and Tallis Court. However, as the buildings were occupied the challenge for the project was to keep the existing fire system working while the Advanced panels were being installed to ensure occupants were protected at all times.

Advanced’s high-performance, fault-tolerant MxPro 5 analogue addressable panels were chosen to provide industry-leading protection to category L 1 for the student accommodation suites, bedrooms, high-risk areas and plant rooms within two blocks of Kentish House, two blocks of Behn Hall, and Tallis Court.

Fire engineering consultants, Endeavour Group selected fire safety specialists CSS Ltd as the contractors on the Canterbury Student Village fire alarm replacement project. CSS Ltd was responsible for the design, supply, install and handover of the project. The company installed five MxPro 5 4-loop fire panels which were networked and connected to the ARC for fire and rescue monitoring. All devices are Hochiki with input/output units connected to the existing AOV units throughout. The networked fire system had to integrate with the access control, lift and AOV systems. Endeavour Group reviewed the product design and functionality of the fire system package on the project to ensure it met the client’s needs.

Both Project Director Tony Leck of CSS Ltd and James Doyle, Director of the Endeavour Group have worked with Advanced fire systems on similar projects and agreed that the networked MxPro 5 fire panels would be the best fit for the client. “Advanced was specified since it supports an open protocol and offers a powerful solution for the student accommodation. We also find it an easy system for customers to navigate and use. The panels are proven in the field with CSS Ltd and Endeavour Group using them for a number of years. Advanced MxPro 5 panels are about the best on the market along with the tech support received by Advanced on installations. Pick up the phone to tech support and within minutes it is all sorted thanks to Advanced’s experienced technical support engineers,” said Tony Leck at CSS Ltd.

The Advanced MxPro 5 has a number of features that CSS Ltd finds particularly useful when it comes to installing the fire panel. These include a built-in multimeter which, measures all voltages and currents across the fire system in real time, to speed up the commissioning process. Meanwhile, the MxPro 5 panels come in four and eight loop formats to suit CSS Ltd’s needs and customers’ budgets. The MxPro 5 also offers design flexibility since the panels work with leading detector protocols including, Apollo, Argus, Hochiki and Nittan. In addition, the panels work with up to 254 devices per loop (depending on the protocol) and offers an overall capacity of 200,000 devices per network. CSS Ltd adds that it is easy to network up to 200 network nodes and 2,000 fire detection zones and that the panels support wired, wireless and hybrid devices making install even more flexible.

Neil Parkin, Sales Manager at Advanced, said: “Our MxPro 5 panels are designed to make life as easy as possible, delivering robust protection that offers real peace of mind, all backed up by our highly rated technical support.”

Cloud Student Homes specialises in operating the running of student accommodation blocks where individuals own the individual rooms on a leasehold basis. The company manages 3,500 student bed spaces across 21 sites in the UK. Cloud Student Homes now has plans to upgrade all its sites to Advanced fire panels.