The National Theatre, London

The UK’s National Theatre is now protected by cutting edge MxPro 5 fire panels from Advanced.


Opened in 1976 to provide the National Theatre company with its first permanent home, the Southbank building is well known for its Brutalist architecture. The site includes three auditoria, the Olivier Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre and Dorfman Theatre. The National Theatre is open to the general public and is a focus for cultural activities on the Southbank and also includes a learning centre, restaurants, a riverside bar and bookshop.

The contract for the new fire system at the National Theatre included a network of 12 MxPro 5 panels from Advanced. MxPro 5 is the industry’s leading multiprotocol fire panel range and is renowned for its world-beating performance, quality, and ease-of-use.

In total, 3,000 loop devices were installed on the MxPro 5 network, linked by 16.5 miles of cable. Detection included aspirating systems in the auditoria and stage areas, along with heat and smoke detectors elsewhere. MxPro offers a choice of two panel ranges, four protocols, and an open installer base supported by free training and tech support. Approved to EN54 parts 2, 4 and 13, MxPro 5 panels can be used in single loop, single panel format or easily configured into high speed, 200 panel networks covering huge areas and tens of thousands of field devices. Advanced’s legendary ease of installation and configuration and wide peripheral range mean that MxPro is customisable to almost any application.