Xtralis VESDA aspirating smoke detectors are providing very early warning smoke detection for the Ricardo Vehicle Emissions Research Centre (VERC), a new facility for the development of next-generation clean, low carbon vehicles located in Shoreham, UK.

Ricardo is a global engineering, strategic and environmental consultancy, founded by Sir Harry Ricardo in 1915, sharing his vision for maximising efficiency and eliminating waste.

The new Ricardo VERC features a brand new building with two vehicle test cells capable of testing passenger cars and light trucks of up to 3 tonnes, including advanced technology hybrid electric vehicles. The facility is climatically controlled with a temperature range of -35 to +55 Celsius and helps Ricardo test new vehicles for a global market to far more extreme limits than would previously have been possible.

UK fire systems specialist Southern Fire Alarms Ltd (SFA) was selected by Ricardo, to provide reliable and resilient fire prevention at the landmark facility. While extreme temperature changes posed a huge challenge for reliable smoke detection, SFA delivered Xtralis VESDA VLP and VLC detectors as part of the fire detection and alarm solution.

“This project was the most technically challenging I have ever worked on,” commented David Fell, Sales Director at SFA. “The vehicle test cells needed to be protected by detection which could not only operate in extreme cold temperatures, but also extreme heat as well. We deployed VESDA detectors and worked closely with the construction team to ensure the installation was faultless and a technically challenging project was delivered successfully,”

SFA also provided the building fire alarm, fire suppression and disabled refuge alarm systems for the VERC facility.