The Unity Building is one of the tallest residential buildings in the UK — 26 storeys, 161 apartments, and a costly waking watch standing in for a modern fire system. Gemini AMPM designed and installed a Hyfire Taurus wireless system for FirstPort in just four weeks, ahead of schedule and to budget.
FirstPort — the UK’s leading residential property service provider, caring for 310,000 homes across 5,600 developments — needed a significant upgrade to the fire system at the 26-storey Unity Building, one of the tallest residential buildings in the UK. The brief: state-of-the-art protection, complete coverage, and guaranteed tenant safety.
Behind it sat the waking watch — the expensive stopgap FirstPort wanted gone. Whatever replaced it had to earn its keep quickly, install with minimal impact on the building’s fabric, and work first time. After a comprehensive tender process, Gemini AMPM secured the contract with a proposal FirstPort’s management team singled out for how quickly and easily it could be installed.
High-performance wireless detection, control and alarm devices, fully certified to EN 54 and compliant with BS 5839 Part 1: optical, multi-criteria and heat detectors, manual call points, wall sounders, sounder bases and input/output modules, covering all communal areas and each of the 161 residential units.
Radio translators installed along a wired loop to the addressable fire panel, with wireless devices building out a system of virtually any size — up to 128 devices per translator and 240 per hybrid loop, ten-year battery life on input devices and five years on output. Minimal cabling, minimal impact on the building’s fabric.
Eight engineers, 1,000-plus components, four weeks — from October 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, in full PPE. A detailed work plan agreed with the building manager gave seamless access to occupied and empty units alike, prioritising efficiency and tenant safety, and finishing ahead of schedule and to budget.
Gemini AMPM designed a Hyfire Taurus wireless system covering every communal area and all 161 residential units. Radio translators sit on a wired loop to the addressable panel; wireless detectors, call points and sounders build out from there — up to 128 devices per translator, ten-year battery life on input devices, five on output. In October 2021, eight engineers fitted the 1,000-plus components in just four weeks, working to a detailed plan agreed with the building manager to move seamlessly between occupied and empty units — in full PPE, mid-pandemic.
The installation was a success from start to finish, landing ahead of schedule and to budget. Tenants got comprehensive, cutting-edge fire protection; FirstPort stood down the waking watch, with substantial estimated cost savings to follow. Concerns that wireless signals might struggle through thick concrete proved, in the client’s words, completely groundless.
“The whole system has worked without a hitch from day one. Any concerns about wireless signals travelling through thick concrete sections proved completely groundless.”
PQQ-ready evidence and client references behind this project are available on request. A named engineer, not a call centre, comes back within 24 hours.