Iconic Maison de l’Ordre des Avocats fire-protected by Hempafire Pro 315

With a glass façade symbolising the transparency of justice and a glossy metal exoskeleton, the new Maison de l’Ordre des Avocats (House of the Paris Bar Association) is a stunning addition to the French capital’s new Batignolles judicial city. For the building owner, safety is a top priority. Therefore, the exoskeleton needed a proven passive fire protection coating that would enable the steel to maintain its load-bearing capacity for up to 60 minutes during a fire, giving those inside valuable extra time to evacuate.

The challenge

Specialist paint application and surface treatment company ROTH & Cie was contracted to apply the passive fire protection coating system. ROTH & Cie has worked with Hempel for many years and was keen to work with us on this project. However, due to the project schedule, the tubular exoskeleton framework was delivered to the construction site with a competitor’s epoxy primer already applied.

ROTH & Cie therefore wanted a Hempel passive fire protection system that would work with the existing primer. Also, as building aesthetics are important in the overall design, the exoskeleton needed a high-quality matt satin finish.

The solution

Our solution was to specify a system of Hempafire Pro 315 and Hempathane 55750. A single component intumescent coating, Hempafire Pro 315 complies with the EN 13501-2 standard for the fire classification of construction products. It is optimised to provide 60 minutes of passive fire protection, as well as partial protection up to 90 minutes. In addition, thanks to its exceptionally low loadings, Hempafire Pro 315 requires significantly lower dry film thicknesses than competitor products. As a result, ROTH & Cie could apply the coating in a thinner coat, significantly reducing paint consumption, application time and project costs.

The full system was completed with Hempathane 55750, a polyurethane topcoat with quick crosslinking properties that provides the matt satin appearance required by the specifications.

Our dedicated passive fire protection R&D Centre in Barcelona, Spain verified that Hempafire Pro 315 could be applied on top of the existing primer. The entire system was spray applied using an electric airless pump, which is ideal for construction sites as it does not require an air compressor.

The project is just another in a long line of successful collaborations with ROTH & Cie, which also include previous passive fire protection coating projects, most notably La Halle Secrétan covered market and La Samaritaine department store, both in Paris.

At a glance

Project Name: Maison de l’Ordre des Avocats (House of the Paris Bar Association)

Customer: ROTH & Cie

System: Hempafire Pro 315 + Hempathane 55750

Volume: 4,080 litres