Located in the heart of Wigan’s town centre, the Academy offers 14 to 18 year olds the opportunity to gain technically orientated qualifications in practical and vocational subjects such as environmental technology, food production and manufacturing.

The building’s reception area features a flat screen television and two C-Tec ZFP compact controllers. Specifically created to enhance a building’s interior design, the state-of-the-art touchscreen units not only provide information at a glance on all fire alarm system activity in the converted Victorian mill but also add a touch of style to the entrance area.

Said Nick Potter of R V Fire Systems, the Clitheroe-based specialist fire company that completed the project: “Clients simply don’t want ugly metal boxes spoiling the overall design of a building’s focal point so the ZFP’s touchscreen compact controllers are ideal for ‘front-of-house’ areas and very popular with consultants.”

At the heart of the system is a powerful ZFP 4-loop fire panel located in the server room. The panel features a 20-zone indicator module, which highlights in LED form which zones have been activated.

One of C-Tec’s Sigtel eight-line disabled refuge systems is also in operation at the college which was officially opened by the Earl of Wessex in September. In the event of an emergency, it will provide disabled people with relatively safe places where they can call for assistance and wait until help arrives. A weatherproof disabled refuge outstation was specified for the exposed ‘Vertical Farm’ on the roof of the building where the students grow crops.