Situated in Norway’s Bergen municipality, Laksevåg Kirke is a small wooden church built in 1875. A fire protection system was needed not only for inside the church but, importantly, also for the façade of the building which stands just 8 – 10 metres away from other wooden buildings, including a Unesco heritage building dating back to the 1770s.
A major challenge was the very small size of the mechanical room which had to house the five alarm valves. They needed to fit into a space measuring just 2.8m long by 1.4m wide and 1.9m high. Having reviewed a range of available alarm valves, contractors Anders & Grevstad selected the Victaulic FireLock NXT Series 769 preaction double interlock electric pneumatic valve to protect the interior of the church. The most compact such device on the market, it solved the problem of lack of space and, being quick and easy to install, maintain and operate, offered considerable time- and cost-saving benefits. Because it is supplied pre-assembled, pre-trimmed and with pre-set pressure switches, installers were able to install the valve directly onto the pipework, without having to build up the trim – a great advantage when working in a confined space.
To protect the building’s wooden exterior, a wet device and three deluge devices from the same series were chosen, so those working on the project benefitted from the commonality. “We have different systems but the body design is the same for wet, preaction and deluge alarm valves which means we have consistency. The same installers can work on all the devices so there’s no need to train specialist teams. It’s a very good system,” said Anders & Grevstad project leader, Rolf Fanebust. A further advantage is that those servicing and maintaining the devices will be able to deal with the full range and only need to carry a small number of common parts.
In a one-stop-shop approach, Victaulic butterfly valves and installation-ready rigid couplings – both designed specifically for fire protection systems – were used on the project. This helped save time, increase productivity and maximise efficiency on the installation.
