The 1,000 pupils and staff at the 570-year-old City of London School – one of Britain’s most photographed educational establishments – are now protected by a Morley-IAS by Honeywell voice alarm system.
Installed by Ardent Fire & Security in a major overhaul of voice alarm and public address technology, the school, which is on the Thames embankment near St Paul’s Cathedral, now has a highly customised system that provides safety cover throughout its prominent site.
Replacing the previous obsolete system, Ardent, a Morley-IAS distributor, installed the Honeywell D1 rack and amplifiers along with 32 new speakers and new alert buttons. The buttons can be pressed to trigger specific public address messages in locations such as the swimming pool area and playground, while announcements can be made from both the reception desk and the office of the head teacher’s personal assistant.
In the event of an alert, one of 18 separate safety messages is issued over the system, each of which is tailored to the school’s particular requirements. This allows disruption to be kept to a minimum, without compromising safety.
In addition, security alert buttons have been installed at the first-floor staff entrance along with a fire microphone for the use of emergency services. As well as installing new speakers to ensure coverage is provided throughout the school, Ardent also optimised the operation of the in situ public address speakers.
With its origins in the reign of Henry V, the school occupies a prominent site close to the Millennium Bridge, making it possibly the most photographed school in the UK. An independent day school owned and governed by the City of London, its former old boys include Sir Walter Raleigh and long-serving 20th Century Prime Minister Herbert Asquith.
The work was completed in two-and-a-half weeks during the Easter holidays and followed Ardent’s successful upgrade of integration between the existing fire protection system, a recently installed Morley-IAS ZX5Se control panel and the public address system.
“The D1 system has amazing software with incredible flexibility – meaning it could do all that the school required,” said Adam Sutherland, Ardent director. “Any other system would have required a huge amount of re-cabling, but the D1’s sensitivity means it can work superbly with the existing infrastructure.”
Currently based in Chelmsford, Ardent Fire & Security has staff with long industry experience, providing a full range of fire system expertise including PA systems and large network panels.
For more information, go to www.morleyias.com or www.honeywellnow.com
