36m refurbishment for St Martin-in-the-Fields

Clymac Fire and Security Systems has played a key role in a multi-million pound project to refurbish St Martin-in-the-Fields church in central London.

As part of the £36m renewal project, Clymac was given full responsibility for the design, installation, testing and handover of the entire fire system for the extensively refurbished church. It was a challenging project for the Clymac team, not simply because they were working in an architecturally renowned building, but also because the installation of the system would have to be handled very sensitively. In addition, the system and cabling used inside the church would need to be as discreet as possible. The team also had to deal with fixed completion dates and a phased handover.

The solution, planned and installed by Clymac, was a mixed radio and hardwired system, with radio in the church and crypt, and hardwiring in the North Range and back of house areas. It was difficult to install the MICC used for the voice sounders in the church and crypt areas and, as the cables would be visible, they were installed in bare MICC.

In addition, aspirating detection was fitted in the large void above the church because of the height of the ceiling. This enabled the system to achieve a high level of sensitivity and remove the need to gain access from the church for maintenance.

Aesthetically discreet capillaries were also used on the church ceiling.