Tour Triangle, Paris

Fire safety requirements on a major construction project are rarely static. As work progresses, new areas become accessible, temporary layouts change and different trades and activities move throughout the building. On a high-rise development such as Tour Triangle, those changes are taking place across multiple levels and within an increasingly complex working environment. The temporary fire safety solution therefore needed to be capable of adapting as the project developed. WES3 has been designed specifically for temporary and evolving environments, using wireless technology to connect fire detection and evacuation devices without the extensive fixed cabling associated with traditional systems.

For Tour Triangle, Prodomo has installed approximately 180 WES Manual Call Points and 30 WES smoke detectors, creating a network of around 210 devices across the project. As construction progresses, the wireless nature of the system means devices can be repositioned and the network adapted in response to changing site requirements. This flexibility makes WES particularly suited to temporary fire safety on construction sites, where the environment being protected can change significantly between different stages of a project.

One of the most important aspects of the Tour Triangle installation is the way Prodomo has configured the WES system around the operational requirements of the site. Two separate control panels have been installed, with one dedicated to the WES Manual Call Points and the other to the smoke detectors. This allows the team responsible for site safety to immediately distinguish between an alarm manually activated by somebody on site and an automatic alert generated by smoke detection.

On a large, multi-storey project, this distinction provides useful information from the moment an alert is raised. The team can identify whether someone has actively reported an incident or whether the system has automatically detected smoke, giving them greater context about the type of event they are responding to. The WES3 wireless fire and evacuation system can then continue to evolve with the building, allowing the temporary protection strategy to respond to changes in layout, working areas and construction activity as the project progresses.

The physical WES installation is supported by REACT, Ramtech’s cloud-based emergency notification system, adding a digital layer to the temporary fire safety strategy. On Tour Triangle, the site team uses REACT to maintain a comprehensive record of alerts and the interventions associated with them. This provides a digital history of events that can be reviewed following an activation and gives the team greater oversight of incidents occurring across the project.

When WES and REACT are used together, information from the temporary fire system can extend beyond the physical alarm network. Ramtech’s REACT platform can provide designated personnel with notifications of WES events, helping connect those responsible for managing site safety with critical information wherever they are working. For a project extending 180 metres vertically, this combination of physical fire detection, manual alarm activation and connected event information provides a more joined-up approach to temporary fire safety.

For Ramtech’s French team, Tour Triangle demonstrates why temporary fire safety on complex construction projects needs to be considered as an evolving part of the construction programme rather than a static installation.

“Tour Triangle is an exceptional project, both in its scale and the complexity of the environment we are helping to protect. When you are working across a 180-metre high-rise, the requirements can change considerably as construction progresses. WES gives the team the flexibility to adapt the system alongside the building, while REACT provides greater visibility of the alerts and events taking place. Working closely with Prodomo, we have been able to support a solution designed around the realities of the project and the needs of the team on site.” – Sylvain Castaignau, Business Development Manager, France, Ramtech

Tour Triangle is designed to become much more than a new office tower. The mixed-use development will combine workspace with hospitality, health, cultural and public-facing facilities, creating a new destination at Porte de Versailles. Its distinctive triangular form has been designed to minimise its visual impact from different viewpoints while creating a new silhouette on the Paris skyline. Environmental performance is also central to the development. BESIX states that the project has been designed to target BREEAM Excellent and HQE Exceptional certifications and incorporates measures including geothermal systems, energy and heat recovery, a bioclimatic façade and approximately 1,000 m² of photovoltaic panels. Low-carbon concrete and recycled materials also form part of the construction strategy.

Against this backdrop of architectural ambition, engineering complexity and a continually changing construction environment, the temporary systems protecting the people delivering the project also need to evolve. The deployment of WES3 and REACT at Tour Triangle demonstrates how wireless fire detection, evacuation and connected emergency notification technology can work together on a major high-rise construction project. As work progresses, the system can continue to adapt alongside the building, supporting those responsible for protecting people and the project throughout construction.

For Ramtech and Prodomo, Tour Triangle represents both the continuation of a partnership spanning more than five years and an opportunity to contribute to the safe delivery of a new landmark on the Paris skyline.