Apollo Protects EU President

Apollo fire detection technology has been chosen to protect Grassalkovich Castle in Gӧdӧllő, Hungary, the central venue of the Hungarian rotation of the Presidency of the European Union. Hungary holds the EU Presidency from January to June 2011, and up to 250 events are scheduled to take place in the riding hall and stable wing of the recently renovated castle. The contract to equip the castle with world class fire detection was awarded to Elektrovill Ltd, who have represented Apollo in Hungary for 22 years.

The baroque castle, with its white and gold richly painted rooms, red marble bath, riding school and theatre, was built in the middle of the 18th century and is second only to Versailles in terms of its footprint. In the 19th century it was purchased by the Hungarian state and was given to the Emperor Franz Joseph as a coronation present, so it is also known as the Royal Palace of Gӧdӧllő. During the Second World War the castle fell into a state of disrepair, until large-scale renovation works began to take place 15 years ago. During the last two years these activities have been geared towards making the venue suitable for hosting events relating to the Hungarian EU presidency.

Part of the renovation involved bringing the castle's building services up to modern standards. Elektrovill won the contract to design, supply, install, commission and maintain the fire detection system. They recommended a system that is based around Apollo's XP95 analogue addressable technology. Apollo's open protocol and extensive XP95 range allows freedom of choice for the fire system specifier, installer and end user. All XP95 detectors are fitted with Apollo's XPert card, which ensures that the detector address remains assigned to one location and will not need reprogramming if the detector head is removed for servicing, maintenance or replacement.

Around 70 XP95 smoke and heat detectors were arranged in three zones and controlled by Global Fire Equipment's Juno-Net panel. Apollo interfacing devices, such as Input/Output units and Switch Monitor units, were used to enable the Apollo fire detection system to link with other critical equipment including aspirating detectors. The fire detection system meets OTSZ standards, Hungary's national fire safety regulations, which are in accordance with EN54.

Ákos Kürti, Managing Director of Elektrovill Ltd, said: "Apollo technology was chosen to protect this venue because of its reliability. When you are protecting a venue as historically important as this one, that will be home to many high-powered European officials for several months, it is important that your fire detection can be trusted."