Palazzo Ducale di Revere (Heritage - Latitude)

Starting life as a fort in 1125, the building, which now houses the Museum of the River Po, was first built by the people of Modena, then conquered by the people of Mantua, who finished the construction. Over the next 500 years it was transformed from a fort to a grand residence, it survived a siege from Napoleonic troops in the late 1700s and remained under French rule until 1814. Following the Congress of Vienna, the building remained in Austrian hands where tall Venetian-style fireplaces and the courtyard was added, with a beautiful well in the centre, surrounded by a portico with columns and capitals.

The building now hosts the Museum of the River Po which was founded by the city in 1983. The Museum tells the story of the river, the flora and fauna that inhabited it and how the local people used it and is recognised as a building of regional importance.

The museum is made up of a main reception hall with rooms scattered across several floors. Due to regional interest in the building and the artifacts and collections which are houses within its walls, the life safety system needed to be of the highest quality.

The Municipality of Borgo Mantovano, the property owners, requested an update of the old fire protection system, whilst respecting strict architectural requirements, typical of historic buildings, it was important that the system was discreetly designed so as not to affect the aesthetics of the building.

Hochiki were drafted in to consult on the project by the installer Calanca Luca Impianti Elettrici. The project required a new system to upgrade the existing fire detection system, and so Hochiki Europe’s market leading control panel, L@titude was recommended. Combining the very latest hardware and software to produce an approved control and indication system, which is powerful and sophisticated, yet simple to use and understand.

The flexibility of the Latitude platform is such that it can be re-configured to realise many other control and indication applications, with direct integration into many types of applications, including this historic building . The modular nature of the Latitude system allows all field wiring to be connected to a passive mother board enabling addition, re-configuration or replacement of all electronic hardware without the need to disconnect any field wiring.

This modularity also allows each panel to be customised, perfect for the Museum application. Hochiki’s range of ESP detectors, beam detectors and wireless detectors were also installed and provided the best and most reliable coverage for this project.

Alberto Ferrari, Technical Sales Manager at Hochiki Italia said:

“The environmental requirements of historic buildings blend perfectly with the features of Hochiki's Latitude detection System. In the case of the museum, we opted for a wired system with beam detectors and SCI detectors, and where there was difficulty in laying cables our hybrid wireless devices meant we were able to guarantee the same reliability as a fully wired system. The innovative technology within the Latitude panel allows it to manage the two systems simultaneously and on the same loop.”

Luca Calanca, project manager and owner of the installation company, said:

"Being commissioned by the Municipality of Borgo Mantovano to protect the Ducal Palace and its history was a great responsibility, and we are truly satisfied with the end result. Hochiki's system proved to be highly efficient, easy to install and reliable."