Unicorn Voice delivers emergency PA solution for residential towers project

Scholes Village is located just outside of the town centre. The complex has been the subject of a recent upgrade programme purpose-designed to improve safety, integrity and well-being across the towers blocks (and the 700 apartments contained within) that will hugely benefit both current and future residents.

The EPA/EVC system is stand-alone in nature (ie not connected to the fire alarm). It’s fully compliant with BS EN 50849:2017, while also being certified to EN54-16 by UL. During an incident, the system allows building managers and Emergency Services personnel to alert residents with recorded or live voice messages in their apartments and common areas.

Importantly, the system also delivers secure and resilient communication between incident managers and first responders, allowing occupants to call for help when requiring evacuation assistance using a disabled refuge system.

The installed system is based on Vox Ignis’ EN 54-16 Unicorn Voice PAVA system that unifies PAVA, fire telephone, disabled refuge, assistance alarm and visual alarm devices in one system for the first time.

Network set-up

Each of the tower blocks at Scholes Village plays host to a distributed, redundant, fault tolerant network of one master EPA panel with an integrated microphone, fire telephone and three distributed EPA panels.

The set-up features Vox Ignis’ VoxOS touch screen that clearly shows the visual status of the system and allows quick control and programming. Indeed, programmable Unicorn Buttons allow pre-recorded messages to be sent to selected zones at the touch of a button.

Each panel delivers four ‘power and output’ tuned speaker circuits and eight combined fire telephone and disabled refuge lines. Over 1,000 Vox Ignis speakers are installed across the project. In addition, upwards of 160 Vox Ignis vandal-proof Type C outstations provide combined disabled refuge and fire telephone functions in the fire-protected stairwells.

Tenant safety

Councillor Susan Gambles, Cabinet portfolio holder for Housing and Welfare at Wigan Council, explained: “This investment is crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of our tenants and underlines our commitment to working with those tenants to carry out improvements. We’re delighted to be working with Vox Ignis. The Unicorn Voice system is customised to meet our precise needs.”

Leeds-based Elite Audio Ltd supplied and commissioned the system, with the installation process being managed by Fieldway.

Dominic Carney, sales director at Elite Audio Ltd, stated: “The Unicorn Voice system has enabled us to use the EVC and PAVA functions in designing and economically deploying a system that meets Wigan Council’s precise requirements. As is the case with all Vox Ignis products, the performance and quality of the system is Best-in-Class. The touch screen control and programming software makes configuration and control an incredibly simple process.”

Jeremy Kirkup, sales director at Vox Ignis, concluded: “We’re really pleased to be working with Wigan Council on this important project. The features of Unicorn Voice and our approach to energy efficiency are impressing architects, consultants and specifiers across the markets we serve. We designed Unicorn Voice to be a system that takes a leap forward in terms of quality and capability in order to meet the demanding requirements of the modern built environment.”

*Further information is available online at www.vox-ignis.com