The Pullman Sharjah Hotel and Residential Unit, a luxury twin tower block located in the United Arab Emirates, is benefiting from a range of innovative life safety technologies from leading manufacturer, Hochiki.

The 43-storey property is home to a modern 5-star hotel in one tower and residential apartment block in the other, with a communal basement connecting the two.

With approximately 1,500 occupants, installation firm Dafoos Fire Protection knew the buildings needed to be equipped with the latest fire and safety technology, so turned to Hochiki Middle East to provide a hospitality solution that met the required standards and could be installed with minimal disruption.

Dafoos Fire Protection specified Hochiki’s renowned L@titude system, a powerful and sophisticated control and indication system that combines the very latest hardware and software, and FIREscape emergency lighting.

An innovative, reliable solution

The innovative life safety platform L@titude, has been installed by Dafoos Fire Protection across the numerous floors of the hotel and residential units, to ensure controlled and ultra-reliable protection for occupants and their possessions.

The L@titude control panel has been designed to maximise usability and ease of operation for end users, so facilities management and maintenance teams can instantly locate safety breaches in real-time from any location.

To allow clear and concise information to be displayed about each detection device within the hotel and apartment blocks, the product also uses a full-colour touchscreen display.

The modular nature of the system allows all field wiring to be connected to a passive mother board, enabling addition, re-configuration or replacement of electronic hardware without the need to disconnect older wiring. This, in turn, allowed for a quick and easy installation process, with minimal disruption.

The L@titude panel is available in either EN or UL system configurations, ideal for a region that regularly specifies projects involved in both types of system approvals. For this project, an EN (European) system was specified, with L@titude being complaint with the highest European global safety standards, including EN54-2, EN54-4 and EN54-13, while supporting up to 5,000 cause and effect entries. The platform has a 10,000-capacity event log and can run up to 144 zone indicators.

Subin Suhas, Territory Sales Manager at Hochiki Middle East, explained: “This project was quite challenging due to the infrastructure and the number of devices that would be needed throughout the buildings. As we were working within a hotel as well, the client wanted to ensure the products used were of a high quality and known for fewer false alarms, so we knew L@titude was the perfect solution. The fact we could offer a combination of fire alarms and emergency devices under the same umbrella was also an added advantage, with FIREscape ensuring an added layer of safety for occupiers.”

FIREscape is a unique, cost effective and fully compliant emergency lighting system. It is based around an addressable, emergency lighting control panel with a battery back-up and features self-contained LED luminaries and exit signage connected via screened, extra-low voltage cabling. FIREscape is also a fully self-monitored and self-testing system with a central point of control, making both installation and maintenance quick and easy.

Dafoos Fire Protection installed seven L@titude panels, each of which had eight circuit loops, and around 3,500 fire alarm devices throughout the towers. Eight emergency lighting panels and 1,200 devices were installed. Throughout the installation, Hochiki engineers visited the site on multiple occasions to provide extended help in design and commissioning, and to offer support with inspections from the civil defence.

Vijay Chandran, Marketing Manager at Dafoos Fire Protection Equipment, commented: “For this project, we needed to ensure we could provide reliable products with high compliance to standards. Hochiki clearly outlined how each of the products conformed to industry, European and global standards, and we were also very impressed with the quality of materials used. Due to the scale of the project, the approvals process involved different stages with multiple product submittal involving numerous brands, but Hochiki really stood out and the support we received from its team of engineers throughout the installation was extremely valuable in ensuring the work ran smoothly. The installation was quick and easy, and we’ve left the customer with the confidence that the building is protected to the highest standard.”

For more information about Hochiki’s L@titude and FIREscape products, please visit: www.hochikieurope.com.