Cardiff County Hall

Project overview

Johnson Controls has upgraded the fire protection system 

at Cardiff County Hall with its latest MZX technology® to 

ensure the multi-purpose venue benefits from a robust 

and reliable digital fire detection system increasing safety 

on site. In addition, Cardiff County Hall took advantage 

of Johnson Controls' recycling scheme to help minimise 

environmental waste during the upgrade. 

Cardiff County Council took the decision to upgrade the fire protection system at the city’s County Hall. Since opening in 1989, the Johnson Controls system has safeguarded the County Hall without incident so were the ideal company to continue to provide fire protection across the site.

Product and services applications 

• MZX technology®
• Fire and smoke detection
• Minerva system recycling scheme
• Damper panel interface
• Interface with access control doors

Customer needs

Cardiff County Hall is the administrative centre for Cardiff 

Council and is situated in the Atlantic Wharf area of 

Butetown, Cardiff. In addition to housing councillors and 

other council officials, the building offers several function 

rooms and suites, which can seat up to 300 guests, 

meaning the building is in continuous use, with a constant 

flow of staff and visitors.

Bob Evans, Electrical Engineer at Cardiff County Council 

commented, “Johnson Controls fire and smoke detection 

systems can identify the signs of fire at the earliest possible stages and can pinpoint its location across large premises, which is exactly what we need for our large council offices that house hundreds of visitors and staff each day.”

Johnson Controls solution

There were several key issues that Cardiff County Council 

needed to address. The first was to ensure the system 

incorporated an innovative damper panel interface, which, 

in the event of a fire, can recognise the air conditioning 

ducts and signal to a further control panel to shut them 

down – preventing the fire from spreading in this way. 

The digital upgrade will also mean that if a fire should 

start, along with the traditional fire alert messages, the 

system can rapidly prevent the spread of fire or smoke 

by automatically closing doors in the affected area.

Glyn Davies, Building Supervisor from Cardiff County Hall 

control room concludes, “The safety of staff and visitors 

here at Cardiff County Hall is top of the agenda and for such a large venue, only the best fire detection system will do. Johnson Controls installed the system promptly, causing no disruption to the working day. It’s reassuring to know that we are protected by the latest intelligent digital system that will not only provide early detection, but will isolate any fires, should one occur.”

In addition, the team at Cardiff County Hall decided to take 

advantage of Johnson Controls' recycling scheme to help 

minimise environmental waste. Designed to support existing Minerva fire detection systems, the innovative scheme aims to lower the cost of system upgrades and reduce electrical waste. Johnson Controls will recycle the old equipment so that certain parts can be used to support the new system.”