10 June 2022 
Project Outline
Free Wharf Phase 1 is part of a large-scale residential development plan in Shoreham-on-Sea, West Sussex. The waterside housing scheme is on the mouth of the River Adur, and the complete project will deliver 550 homes to the local community, including commercial spaces.
The residential strategy that forms part of this project will become part of the council’s vision for residential-led development of the full length of the Western Harbour Arm with a riverside promenade and cycle path coming later.
Phase One of the Free Wharf project includes designing and building 137 affordable homes comprising 40 rental and 97 shared ownership properties alongside ground and first-floor commercial spaces. The project will also include constructing shared facilities, a communal garden terrace area, parking and bike storage.
The scheme will use traditional and modern methods of construction. In line with regulations and guidance, the work site needed a large quantity of fire warning systems, firefighting equipment and fire points.
Project Challenges
The Free Wharf Phase 1 residential development project is valued at £37M and includes hundreds of workers performing lots of tasks daily. The construction site covers a very large area, and the client needed a wireless fire alarm system that could raise a warning around the site quickly in the case of an emergency.
The radio-linked, wireless alarm system would have to be communicating constantly with all units to ensure all detector devices remained connected. This is because some areas of the site may go significant periods without being monitored, and it will save contractors, workers and responsible persons from having to check each wireless fire alarm frequently.
Another challenge of many construction sites is making moving, installing and maintaining fire safety products as straightforward as possible. As usual, Howler products were the exact fit for the project.
Howler Solutions
Howler supplied the SafetyHub® SHR01 fire safety point and many were placed down on the ground on the project’s exterior. All SafetyHub® are incredibly tough and stand out for easy identification on work sites. The SafetyHub® on this project were fitted with fire extinguishers and health and safety treatment, such as emergency eye wash.
FirePost FP03A were also supplied for use throughout the project site. The Howler range of sturdy mobile fire points is easy to move and assemble — no wonder they’re a favourite for construction teams all over the globe.
Both FirePost and SafetyHub® fire safety points were fitted with the ProLink® fire and warning system. The ProLink® wireless fire alarm is totally unique, battery-operated and radio-linked. ProLink® alert stations are constantly chatting to each other and have a 400-second loss of communication warning and two independent power supplies.
With all of the above fire safety products combined, contractors and responsible persons on the Free Wharf Phase 1 construction project can be reassured that they have a reliable, long-term fire safety warning system that will protect workers and the future of the residential scheme.
