Elektron, Neutron, Proton and Switch: four high-rise towers in Tower Hamlets, 497 apartments, and a waking watch costing FirstPort dearly. Gemini AMPM installed 2,000 wireless devices across all four buildings in four weeks — on time, within budget, and unlocking annual cost savings of more than £2,500,000.
FirstPort set out to upgrade the legacy fire systems across four high-rise buildings in Tower Hamlets — Elektron Tower, Neutron Tower, Proton Tower and Switch Tower. The towers needed a modern system that would protect tenants properly and eliminate the waking watch keeping the buildings covered in the meantime.
The constraints were real: 497 apartments plus communal areas across four separate buildings, with installation required to happen outside normal schedules and with minimal impact on the buildings themselves. As FirstPort’s development manager put it, installing a new fire system across four landmark towers is a huge operation — and it had to happen without turning residents’ lives upside down.
Hyfire’s Taurus system across all four towers: wireless detection certified to EN 54 and compliant with BS 5839 Part 1, covering every communal area and all 497 apartments. Up to 128 devices per wireless translator and 240 per hybrid loop, with ten-year battery life on input devices and five years on output.
A wireless-first design carrying 90% less cable than a traditional hard-wired system — a decisive advantage across four occupied high-rise towers. Installation happened outside normal schedules with minimal impact on the fabric of the buildings and the routines of the people living in them.
Eight engineers, 2,000 individual devices, four towers — installed in four weeks from an October 2021 start, with pre-programming cutting two full weeks from the original six-week programme. Delivered on time and within budget, with the waking watch stood down and annual savings exceeding £2,500,000.
Gemini AMPM selected Taurus, Hyfire’s wireless fire detection system — certified to EN 54, compliant with BS 5839 Part 1, and carrying 90% less cable than a traditional hard-wired equivalent. The design covered every communal area and all 497 apartments across the four towers, on a platform that supports up to 128 devices per wireless translator and 240 per hybrid loop, with ten-year battery life on input devices and five on output.
Pre-programming the devices cut the programme from six weeks to four. From an October 2021 start, eight engineers installed 2,000 individual devices, coordinating with residents throughout to keep disruption to a minimum. The project finished on time and within budget — and with the waking watch terminated, annual savings exceeded £2,500,000.
“Installing a new fire system across these four landmark towers is a huge operation”
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