Fire safety on curriculum at Edge Hill University
With a student population of more than 24,000 and 3,000 staff, Edge Hill is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. A new extension incorporating a huge refectory area and equally huge supporting kitchens recently opened and Nobel Fire Systems were chosen to design and install a suitable fire suppression system for these extremely busy kitchens.
A key criteria in selecting Nobel to provide fire safety was the ability of Nobel’s installation team to retro-fit the system without in any way spoiling the look of the newly fitted out and decorated kitchens. In fact, Nobel have been able to install the K-Series system in such a way that nothing has disturbed the aesthetic look that the University was looking for, a totally pleasing kitchen environment with no ugly pipework or protruding nozzles on show.
Work was carried out in the evenings so that during the day the kitchens were able to function normally and any downtime was negligible.
In the busy and energetic environment of these university kitchens, fire prevention and protection is obviously high on the list of requirements. Edge Hill and its insurance company required a supplier whose system would provide the highest possible standards of protection while also providing sensible economic savings in both installation time and overall cost.
All Nobel’s K-Series fire protection systems are engineered to meet the specific individual requirements of the kitchen being protected and so the system fitted the bill perfectly. The systems are electronically controlled with no mechanical moving parts. Installations comprise of one or a number of stainless steel cylinders, each containing a highly effective F class wet chemical liquid designed specifically for fast flame knock down and fire suppression. The low, near neutral pH value of the liquids ensures that there is no damage to the commercial kitchen appliances, and as a direct consequence of the efficiency of K-Series in limiting the volume of liquid required to control the situation, there is minimal clean-up requirements following discharge.
The award winning K-Series is one of the UK’s premier wet chemicals kitchen fire suppression systems. It provides full protection to all cooking appliances, extract canopies and duct work and is already installed in many of the UK’s and European leading commercial kitchens. In the case of Edge Hill, the insurance company insisted on Extended Ductwork protection which exited at roof level, approximately approx 6m vertically. Nobel was able to comply without any difficulty and complete fire safety is now in place throughout the kitchen and ductwork areas.
Nobel’s K-Series fire suppression system was commissioned directly by the University and overseen by their on-site consultant AECOM.