FIREFLY® Barriers Conform To Complex Shape Of Latest Maggie’s Cancer Centre

Conceived to offer comfort and support for patients and their families dealing with the trauma of cancer treatment, Maggie’s Centres are also amongst the most striking of buildings to be found across our NHS estates, with the latest to be completed also showcasing the capacity of the UK construction industry to give form to architects’ most imaginative concepts.

Daniel Libeskind’s design for the Maggie’s centre at the Royal Free Hospital in North London eschew conformity in delivering a structure without vertical lines or flat surfaces, posing complex challenges for the contractors, including the fire-stopping specialists of Middlesex Ltd. who have made full use of FIREFLY®s flexible fire barriers to protect the multi-directional form of the walls and soffits. 

The 12 month build programme has been led by Sir Robert McAlpine, the Management Contractor and long-time supporter of the Maggie’s charity, with Buckinghamshire based Middlesex Ltd. being appointed to install the façade and drywall wall elements to the build.  As regular users of the FIREFLY® range, its fire-stopping division has employed Zeus Lite, Titan Lite and Collaroll across both the internal and external build up, covering the steelwork and other main elements to the structure. 

The Site Manager for Middlesex, Simon Coldwell, commented: “Because of the shape of the building, whose walls lean and curve in three directions, it would have been impossible to carry out conventional fire-stopping operations using fire boards and fire batts without extensive fire testing: so the FIREFLY® products have proved ideal.  The company’s technical reps have been out to site on a number of occasions – confirming compliance and providing special details for areas such as where the steel beams had to be wrapped at the wall/soffit junction.  These had to allow for the potential expansion of intumescent paint of the steel in a fire, as well as maintaining continuity of protection.” 

“As well as the fire-stopping internally, all of the exterior to the walls at ground and first floor level are wrapped in FIREFLY®.  The barriers have been installed over the main frame and are then covered by 200mm of insulation, a Tyvek breather membrane and then the timber cassette cladding panels. “ 

“We have had half a dozen of our Middlesex Fire-Stopping operatives on site for long periods, all of whom have attended the FIREFLY® training courses and who are well experienced in fitting the various systems.  The work has gone very well.” 

A spokesperson for Sir Robert McAlpine said: “Each designed by a world-renowned architect, Maggie’s centres are some of the most distinctive buildings in Britain as such they are often incredibly challenging to construct.  It was this complexity that led to our initial involvement with the charity, at the award-winning, Kisho-Kurokawa-designed Maggie’s Centre at Singleton Hospital, Swansea.  

Since Swansea, we have been involved in a number of the charity’s projects overseeing the construction management of Maggie’s at half a dozen hospitals.” 

By offering 90 minutes integrity and 30 minutes insulation, FIREFLY® Zeus Lite 90:30 exceeds the minimum requirements regarding fire barriers under the Building Regulations’ Approved Document B (Fire Safety).  The specially treated glass fibre fabric is strong and resilient as well as flexible while, crucially, the system’s certification covers the inclusion of service penetrations which some products do not. 

Manufactured from woven and non-woven glass, the FIREFLY® range is designed to optimise resistance to flame and smoke as well as offer heat protection in a wide range of scenarios.  The barriers are easy to install horizontally or vertically using a full selection of FIREFLY® ancillary products in order to ensure a fully tested and certified installed system.

FIREFLY® Barriers Conform To Complex Shape Of Latest Maggie’s Cancer Centre - TBA Firefly