Cerberus Pro fire safety system installed to protect Royal College of Surgeons

Photograph: Royal College of Surgeons of England

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is located in central London and provides world-class education, assessment and development for circa 30,000 surgeons, dental professionals and members of the wider surgical and dental care realms.

With a history dating back to 1800 when the Royal College of Surgeons of England was granted a Royal Charter and new buildings were constructed at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the facility provides not only an invaluable resource for current practitioners, but also a repository for an extensive surgical library, archive collections and The Hunterian Museum.

Re-opened in May this year following a five-year, £4.6 million redevelopment programme, The Hunterian Museum reflects the art and science of surgery from ancient times right through to the present day and includes the awe-inspiring specimen collection of renowned 18^th Century surgeon anatomist John Hunter.

Protecting such a historically important building and its contents from the threat of fire is obviously a vital consideration. That goal is being achieved thanks to a Siemens Cerberus Pro fire system. The system is a four-panel network comprising three FC724 panels and one FC722 panel from the Cerberus Pro range.

Detectors from the Siemens C-Pro suite of field detection devices are linked to the panels to protect The Hunterian Museum’s gallery, library, atrium, function rooms, offices, kitchens, stores, risers, plant rooms, floor and ceiling voids, communication rooms and lift shafts.

Complex ‘cause and effect’ monitoring encompasses damper controls, sprinkler control, door holds, automatic opening vents, building management system vents, lift control (primary and secondary), access control, plant, the alarm transmission system and evacuation control.

Best-in-Class

John O’Riordan, head of buildings and estates at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, informed Fire Safety Matters: “The Royal College of Surgeons of England is a professional standards organisation. We set a high bar in all that we do and expect our suppliers to do the same.”

O’Riordan continued: “It was really important to me to find the Best-in-Class contractor to maintain the Siemens Cerberus system that protects our staff and heritage. We spoke with Mathew Wylde, the senior account manager at Sensetech Systems, and were immediately impressed with the company’s understanding of our needs and the service improvements they could deliver.”

Also commenting on this prestigious project, Alan Walters (head of estimating and service at Sensetech Systems) explained: “The site itself is very impressive. It’s a real mix of the old and the new, with the original buildings from the 19th Century supplemented by modern additions.”

Further, Walters noted: “As a business, Sensetech Systems has been working with Siemens for more than ten years now, so we are very familiar with the company’s systems. We’re providing training for John O’Riordan and his team at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on how to make the most of remote connectivity that’s available through the portal, which connects the system to the cloud. This offers significant benefits, including the potential to conduct many maintenance and servicing checks remotely and reduce the disruption associated with any site visits.”

*Further information is available online at www.siemens.co.uk/cerberus