Antwerp

The city of Antwerp is famous throughout the world for its diamond business. But in addition to its trademark diamonds and housing one of the largest ports in the world, Antwerp plays a significant role in the history of Belgium and Europe. Historic buildings like the cathedral and the guild houses confirm this importance. Supported by the numerous designers in the fashion district located in the inner city, Antwerp is also an attractive shopping destination.

Antwerp Courts of Justice

Piercing the local skyline as seen when approaching Antwerp from the south, the steel and glass, sail-like roof structure of the new law courts building is visible from vantage points all over the city. Beneath the angular forms of the roof, the building’s central atrium provides a large concourse featuring a transparent glass ceiling. Radiating from the atrium are eight courts, arranged in six wings that collectively handle all divisions of local law. The largest court deals with criminal law - others manage civil, family and employment cases. The complex also has facilities for industrial tribunals, a court for minors, an extensive library, meeting rooms and a café.

Pre-existing situation & UTCFS’s role

The building services specification for the courts called for comprehensive control from a central building management system. All security elements such as fire detection and alarms needed to be integrated with other systems, which could then be monitored from a single control station. As part of the monitoring system, graphic displays were required to enable efficient management. A further specification of the fire detection and alarm system was the ability to provide accurate information at the individual sensor level.

UTCFS’s solution

In order to provide the required level of fire protection within the law courts, UTCFS proposed a networked fire detection system, featuring 33 four loop ZP3 analogue addressablecontrol panels. The entire complex is protected by over 3,000 fire sensors, of which 300 are multi-criteria units individually programmed to sense real fires against differing environmental backgrounds. Special high sensitivity aspiration units are installed in higher risk areas and linear beam detectors protect the atrium. The total fire detection is managed and controlled via the ICAROS supervision system developed by UTCFS’s partner in fire detection, Fabricom GTI. Information is collected and displayed on a series of detailed building maps featuring every single one of the 3,000+ sensors. System information provided at the control station for each sensor includes sensor performance, an event log and an indication when the sensor needs servicing.