GFE safeguards prestigious residential development in Istanbul

Bahçeşehir is an upmarket rural neighbourhood often referred to as the ‘garden city’ due to its abundance of green spaces. Eston Sehir Mahallem is itself a peaceful residential development with a striking design which makes the most of outdoor spaces and encourages community living without compromising on residents’ privacy.

The development comprises 315 flats and villas occupying an area of 68,000 m², 70% of which is dedicated to green areas and social and leisure spaces such as pedestrian walkways, bike paths, a children’s park and sports fields.

Facilities available to the development’s residents are extensive and include a café, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool, a multipurpose community hall, a PlayStation room, a reading room and a sports centre. The development’s commercial units are all located on the main street.

Design, installation and commissioning

The design, installation and commissioning of the fire detection system for the development was undertaken by GFE’s appointed distributor in Turkey, namely GFE Bina Kontrol Sistemleri.

GFE’s fire alarm system was chosen because it’s modern and innovative, and also because it meets the legislative requirements set by the Turkish Government for residential developments, which have themselves become increasingly stringent in recent years.

Turkey is a strategically important region for GFE. The country’s population has been increasing year-on-year and now stands at circa 84.7 million. For its part, GFE Turkey has been operating since 2013, completing a vast range of projects in the intervening period.

The system for Eston Sehir Mahallem comprises 18 addressable control panels, 200 ZEOS addressable smoke detectors and other addressable devices including manual Call Points, sounders and gas detectors.

Feride Cilesun, site manager at Eston Sehir Mahallem, commented: “We went through a rigorous tendering process before appointing GFE as our partner for this project. We have been very impressed with the support and expertise of GFE Turkey at every stage. Our contacts were able to give us a working system in a very short space of time, which offers extensive configuration options and a great range of value-added features. The quality of all the equipment installed throughout the development is very high, while the technical support and expertise of the GFE team has been invaluable.”

Cilesun continued: “We have been particularly impressed with GFE’s remote monitoring and control software, Odyssey, which allows us to manage the development in a preventative failure manner. Odyssey has also enabled us to integrate the fire detection and alarm system with the development’s third party PA and voice alarm system so that, in the event of a fire, we are able to quickly and easily notify residents in the affected areas to evacuate their properties. The finished system is very user friendly and reliable. We now have an ongoing maintenance contract with GFE. We’re also very happy with that.”

Development in Turkey

Murat Efir (regional director for Turkey and the Balcans at GFE) operates out of GFE Turkey’s headquarters in Istanbul and has worked for the business since its inception in 2013.

Efir explained: “We were delighted to win the contract for this prestigious residential project. There was strong competition during the tender process. GFE was chosen because of our bespoke approach to the project and our extensive expertise in large-scale projects in the region, including hospitals, hotels, schools and other residential developments.”

In addition, Efir observed: “GFE’s reputation in Turkey is very strong and we have experienced significant sales growth over the past eight years. We have stepped up our presence in the region and are continuing to strengthen our customer offer, including through the launch of a new Partner Programme and the GFE Training Academy later this year. We#re also looking forward to launching a number of new products in the coming year, including products that have been designed specifically for the Turkish market such as a detector which is capable of detecting both LPG and PNG leaks.”

Efir stated: “Eston Sehir Mahallem was a challenging project due to the building distribution and the site having a number of multi-storey properties, pedestrian walkways and parking areas. However, our expert team members were able to manage any technical issues in an efficient and professional manner. The installation process took just one week and was seamless. Following installation, we worked to debug all faults and provided technical expertise to ensure that our products deliver the very best in protection. Each piece of equipment is manufactured to the very highest standards and provides extensive configuration options and functions.”

*For further information on Global Fire Equipment visit the company’s website at www.globalfire-equipment.com