In a hectic working day, people are increasingly longing for relaxation in order to gain new strength. One of the many possibilities is a visit to a wellness temple. The Mediterana in Bergisch Gladbach/Germany is representative of this form of regeneration. Based on sport, fitness and wellness, it sets a new standard and offers pure luxury. On a total of 52,000 square metres, guests will find a themed landscape entirely according to their wishes. To ensure safe operation, the facility is equipped with state-of-the-art fire protection combined with professional voice alarms.
Just outside Cologne/Germany is a wellness facility that is unique in Europe. Guests will find a total of 15 sauna and bath creations in Spanish-Moorish and Indian-Arabic style, most of which have been specially developed for the Mediterana. The "Rajasthanihaus" is dedicated to the teaching of long and healthy life, the Indian Ayurveda. The offer is rounded off by the spa and sports area. Here the guest can expect the most modern fitness equipment as well as a comprehensive offer of over 95 courses. In the health and prevention courses, guests are professionally and individually looked after by trained personnel and sports physicians. Through the combination of sports and healthy bathing, Mediterana has become a top address in the field of medical fitness and health sports. Based on this unique philosophy, Mediterana has been awarded various prizes for several years in a row.
Elaborate control matrix
Modern fire alarm systems are now increasingly used to control a wide range of different trades when an incident occurs. Especially the control of elevator systems, voice alarm, ventilation and smoke extraction systems as well as extinguishing systems play an increasingly important role. Among other things, the in-house alarm concept provides for event-related evacuation; affected areas are alerted accordingly, while others are merely informed.
The advantage of the voice alarm system (PA/VA) used is that it can also be used to play music. Appropriate audio sources provide relaxation music. In the event of an alarm, the PA/VA is used for a targeted evacuation of the affected area. In addition, manual, targeted announcements or instructions can be made by the staff via the call stations installed in the building.
Coupling of BMA and PA/VA
DIN VDE 0833-4 contains clear guidelines for alarm systems that are controlled by fire alarm systems. Both building code and fire brigade specific requirements must be taken into account. Planners, architects and installers thus have a reliable guideline for voice alarm systems at their disposal, which ensures planning security and describes installation and acceptance criteria. With its product line for professional voice alarms, the leading manufacturer from Neuss/Germany had already ideally expanded its product portfolio many years ago in order to secure its outstanding market position in the future. Networked with the fire alarm system, international, multilingual announcements provide direct instructions for the correct behaviour in the event of fire. This ensures that people are alerted in good time and the building is evacuated quickly and in a targeted manner.
The special advantages of the VARIODYN® D1 system include, in addition to the low failure probability, the possibility of temporarily storing announcements if they could not be made because, for example, announcements of higher priority are being considered. This feature comes into play when announcements are made in loudspeaker circuits at the same time, e.g. when an announcement is made for boarding in the airport area, if a specific call for passengers is made at the same time. Thus no announcement is lost with VARIODYN® D1.
Convenient display and operation
The PAMMI Plus management system (PAMMI stands for Public Address Man Machine Interface) is used for simple and convenient display of the system information of the VARIODYN® D1 and for the operation and use of the voice alarm or public address system. It is installed on a PC with WINDOWS operating system as a software application and offers optimum flexibility and many freedoms of operation. The graphical user interface can be customized to suit the requirements of the specific object. No matter if list representations, building plans or other graphical representations are desired, with the PAMMI Plus everything is possible without problems and quickly. Thus the entire voice alarm or public address system can be operated and controlled from one or more locations.
Within the scope of the complex safety monitoring, a sophisticated alarm concept has also been implemented, which, among other things, also implements a chlorine gas warning via technical alarm modules. The almost 400 fire detectors are partly equipped with radio technology, as it was difficult to route the cables outside.
Conclusion
Oliver Noerdlinger and Marcel Hohmann, direct contact persons for SAS regarding the voice alarm and fire alarm technology trades on the part of the manufacturer, are pleased about the good cooperation in handling the complex work. Both agree: "The example of the Mediterana shows again how important professional and coordinated products are for the success of an installation. "Jan Staffelstein, Managing Director of the company SAS, which was commissioned with the installation, is pleased with the smooth running of the installation work and concludes: "After the acceptance of the complete system by the inspection expert, all those involved could sit back and relax in the certainty that the complex technology with the high-quality products would ensure smooth operation and that the necessary safety of visitors and employees would be guaranteed in the event of an incident".
