"fire protection"

The recently renovated 'schloss Colditz' in Saxony, Germany is a great example of how to reconcile the often conflicting demands of historic preservation and fire-protection. The renovation has not just fulfilled fire-protection requirements but the planners have used extremely discreet solutions that fit with historic preservation requirements. Many of the passageways have been fitted with Teckentrup T30 all-glass doors, which combine functionality with aesthetics and maximum transparency.

When you design a building that will be used by lots of people, like a tower block, you need to make sure that the building has the correct level of fire prevention and fire protection equipment. In instances where this isn’t the case, tragedies like the Grenfell Fire can happen. The importance of passive and active fire protection methods are vital for the safety of the intended occupants, but how can you ensure they’re going to be safe?

When you design a building that will be used by lots of people, like a tower block, you need to make sure that the building has the correct level of fire prevention and fire protection equipment. In instances where this isn’t the case, tragedies like the Grenfell Fire can happen. The importance of passive and active fire protection methods are vital for the safety of the intended occupants, but how can you ensure they’re going to be safe?

The Isotec is a heavy duty commercial loft ladder offering up to 120 minutes fire protection. It also offers very high thermal insulation (U value 0.33 W/m2K) and an airtight seal (class 4). Available made-to-measure

A three year £24 million programme of works to repair and repaint the roof structure to Bristol Temple Meads railway station is featuring the use of the ZEUS Horizontal fire barrier system from FIREFLY™: employed to enclose a series of shallow arch scaffold beams or ‘cassettes’ that span the tracks, thereby protecting the workforce from any potential train fire as they use the access deck above.

Assured passive fire protection for a spectacular central atrium in Dublin city centre’s largest and most prestigious new commercial development has been provided by over 300m2 of Promat SYSTEMGLAS® Ferro. The system was selected thanks to its 360 degree ‘wheel of assurance’, which ensures all the fire resistant glazing screens are checked for compliance at every stage from design and specification, through manufacture and installation. The proven butt-jointed, steel framed fire resistant glazing system has been used to create all the glass screens which encapsulate the atrium at the heart of No. 1 Dublin Landings.

Our high-performance coatings systems, designed to stand up to the rigors of offshore environments, were chosen to protect the new platform. The two key areas for us were passive fire protection (PFP) and the ability to provide systems that were approved to the NORSOK M-501 standard. The aim of the standard is to obtain a coating system which ensures optimal protection of the installation, with minimum need for maintenance over a fifteen year period. Chartek is the world’s most complete range of epoxy intumescent PFP coatings and the first choice for the oil and gas industry worldwide. With an in-service track record of over 45 years, Chartek provides safety, durability and efficiency through proven, economical and easy-to-apply solutions, successfully meeting project and customer requirements in the most severe environments. Its combination of both corrosion and fire protection is unbeatable and vital for the Valhall BP oilfield. Chartek was the first jet-fire rated epoxy PFP coating that passed the corrosion performance requirements without a topcoat as set out in the NORSOK standard, demonstrating global technical leadership.  

A four-storey underground car park needs to meet enormous fire protection requirements. Preventive fire and smoke protection and fully functional escape routes and emergency exits were top of the list when planning the doors and barriers. T90 fire and smoke protection doorsets were used for highly frequented areas with a higher risk of fire and the gallery and escape routes between the individual fire compartments were fitted with single and double-leaf T30 doorsets with round glazing. Access points to the individual levels were equipped with T30 sliding doors and T30 sectional doors.

The steel framing system that was introduced in the UK to provide EI fire protection in butt jointed glazing is now available as a complete, safety-assured glazing system with the launch of the SYSTEMGLAS® Ferro range from Promat UK. SYSTEMGLAS® Ferro is a complete glazing system suited to contemporary interiors with the fire glass, steel framing, beading and setting blocks supplied directly by Promat for maximum traceability. It is installed exclusively by a network of approved installers to ensure total peace of mind for specifiers, backed with the confidence of Promat UK’s 360 degree wheel of assurance.

Designing, specifying and installing fire rated timber framed butt-jointed glazing is now easier with the assurance of a fully traceable supply chain with the launch of SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna by Promat, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of fire, thermal and acoustic solutions. Ligna gives designers the ideal balance of assured fire protection and maximum light transmission in all kinds of timber framed glazed partitions and screens. Ideal for offices, healthcare, education, retail and public sector applications, it has been tested to provide integrity and insulation (EI) fire protection from 30 minutes up to 60 minutes (EI30 to EI60).

SMARTPLY MAX FR B was specified and installed at a new multi-purpose building to provide both enhanced fire protection and a unique, textured aesthetic.

SMARTPLY MAX FR B has been specified and installed to provide enhanced fire protection at a new residential development at School Road, Hove in East Sussex. Built by PMC Construction, the affordable 104-home development is on the site of a former Westerman Industrial Works complex originating from the 1950’s.   The extensive project included the building of 21 town houses, and seven residential blocks. Block A features nine flats in a four to five storey structure, while blocks B, C and D feature 47 flats across four storeys. Blocks E, F and G consists of 17 flats and retail units spanning across three and four storeys. Such a feat required specialist, structural panels with reliable reaction to fire properties.  “The project was to supply and erect timber frames as part of the design and construction of 104 residential dwellings and three commercial units,” said Emma Barry, Project Co Ordinator at Gibbs Timber Frame. “We had worked with SMARTPLY products before, but on smaller projects that required enhanced fire protection.” Around 3,500 sheets of SMARTPLY MAX FR B were used in the project, covering over 8,900m2. “We chose SMARTPLY MAX FR B panels for the Cat B and Cat C buildings and decking because of its flame retardant properties. Crucially, the product is also suitable for EC5 Design and Cat 1 racking, which is just what we needed.” SMARTPLY MAX FR B is a structural, moisture resistant OSB/3 panel, which as well as having outstanding and reliable reaction to fire properties, is ideal for use in a range of applications where strength, moisture resistance and improved flame retardance are paramount. Unlike standard, structural OSB/3 panels, SMARTPLY MAX FR B is treated with a water-based, non-toxic flame retardant solution during the manufacturing process, which provides enhanced fire protection throughout the thickness of the panel. This means that even if it’s cut, the level of protection remains, unlike some post-treated panels.  SMARTPLY MAX FR B is CE certified according to EN 13986 and meets the requirements for load-bearing panels for use in humid conditions (Type OSB/3) as defined in EN 300 and Eurocode 5. The project began in January 2020 and is due to be completed in October 2021. Gibbs Timber Frame are manufacturers of high-quality timber frame structures with over twenty years’ experience in the construction industry. Their expertise ranges from luxury detached homes, specialised structures, bungalows, chalets, terrace housing, apartment blocks, commercial buildings and home extensions.  Find out more and keep up with them here: www.gibbstimberframe.co.uk  Discover more about the benefits of SMARTPLY MAX FR B here:

IKO Ultra Prevent T-O Brown cap sheet was specified for the 300m2 flat roof areas, and Armourglass Dual Brown Roofing Shingles were specified for the 200m2 pitched roofs. The roofing shingles were chosen to maintain the original slate effect on the pitched roof areas. The work also involved re-lining of existing steel gutters and improving the thermal performance of the whole roof.

Walker Primary School was opened in 1953 as a one-form entry primary school with seven classes. Over the years, due to its popularity, it has grown and new buildings have been added. Due to the structural design of the building, the roof trusses once exposed meant that the roof changed from one roof to several individual roofs with their own drainage and design issues which meant that each roof had to give its own tapered scheme for each area, which in some cases had to work in tandem with the abutting roof it was next to.

Promat has played an instrumental part in the fire protection of the latest unit of GLP’s warehouse and logistics facility, G-Park, Northampton - providing a tailored 240-minutes fire resistance solution for Unit 4, a132,000 sq. ft speculative warehouse/distribution unit.  Situated within the popular Moulton Park industrial estate just north of the town and within 10 miles of J15 of the M1, G-Park has exceptional transport links, access to national markets, a locally skilled workforce and is home to a wide range of regional and national companies.   At short notice, the latest and final unit within the park required a solution that provided 4-hour fire resistance for the steel frame construction. Sub-contractor FAA Installation Ltd traditionally uses intumescent paints in its projects, but as this method was unable to meet the 4-hour fire protection required for the steelwork structure it was decided that boarding would be a more suitable alternative.  Promat VERMICULUX®-S and TD Boards® were specified for the project by Encon, a leading Promat distributor, as they knew that these were two of a limited number of products on the market that could meet the project’s requirements.   Promat worked closely with Encon and FAA on the final specification to provide a solution that could not only achieve the 240-minute requirement, but could also overcome the design complexities of the project, including fixing to both the structural steel and cladding rails, which most traditional boards were unable to accommodate. The completed installation demonstrates how VERMICULUX®-S and TD Boards® can interface together to create robust fire protection for warehouse and industrial applications. 

When the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was planned, the project included a 7-bay fire / ambulance station which featured a garden style theme to enable the buildings to harmonise with the green surrounding and the nearby Theme Park. Bolton Gate were specified to provide fourteen electric folding doors which included a special green powder coating, Lexan vision panels and faux louvres to each door. In addition, the doors had to be designed to resist typhoon loadings of up to 3Kpa, were manufactured in Bolton and shipped to Hong Kong where they were installed by the local agent Deacon.

FIREFLY™ Phoenix has been employed at the iconic RAF Manston History Museum, located near Ramsgate in Kent, during the refurbishment of a single storey structure

SMARTPLY MAX FR B panels are being installed as part of a large and exciting regeneration project in the heart of Liverpool.

Coopers installed and commissioned two FireMaster® Plus fire curtains, the first to protect the property from fire and smoke migrating from the kitchen whilst the second to protect the internal balcony from smoke and fire travelling between floors. Both fire curtains provide 2 hours fire and insulation zone protection and were installed into the ceiling to remain hidden from view until deployed by a fire alarm.

Scotland’s biggest building services contractor has just completed upgrading the fire compartmentation within an existing West Lothian warehouse building which is being converted to serve as high bay storage facility to support the organisation’s existing distribution facility elsewhere in West Lothian and is, for the first time, making use of products from the range of TBA FIREFLY™, including APOLLO Lite™ 30:30 to create new fire barriers together with TBA’s expert advice and installer training.

Compartmentation, Protected Means of Escape and Boundary Protection were all required as part of the fire safety solutions and therefore Coopers FireMaster fire curtains and Coopers FireMaster Plus2 fire curtains were installed to ensure the fire safety requirements were met. In total, 113 fire curtains were installed, 96 with round headboxes and 17 with square headboxes. Round headboxes were engineered for The British Museum as a request from the architects. The headboxes of the fire curtains were going to be seen by the occupants so Coopers engineered a round headbox that looked in keeping with the design of the building.

Klimahaus® Bremerhaven 8° is a spectacular exhibition complex, north of Bremen, Germany. The idea behind the large project is a simulated journey around the world measured at eight degrees 34 minutes east. This is the longitude of Bremerhaven and all the other locations on the journey: Switzerland, Sardinia, the Sahel, the African rain forest, the Antarctic, Samoa, Alaska and the north Frisian island of Langeness. Teckentrup provided smoke and fire doorsets to ensure unobtrusive and safe everyday passage and emergency egress for visitors to the exhibition. Almost every doorset was individually planned.

Coopers FireMaster Concertina is a great way to offer compartmentation between areas like a kitchen and restaurant and able to divide up these two critical areas in a public building and act as a fire break. By installing the FireMaster Concertina meant it would provide the building with an approved, non-invasive means of fire protection that would satisfy the fire regulations as well as ensuring that the open plan design remained as intended. Compartmentation and Protected Means of Escape were required as part of the fire safety solutions.

Coopers innovative FireMaster Plus2 fire curtains was also used to create tenable zones as the product offers both integrity and radiance performance. The use of all the fire curtains allowed the open plan design of the museum to be realised by offering fire compartmentation and boundary protection. A total of 20 Simplex and Duplex FireMaster Horizontal fire curtains and 110 FireMaster and FireMaster Plus fire curtains have been installed in the museum by Coopers Fire UAE partners, Dosteen Doors.

There are a total of 30 active SmokeStop smoke curtain barriers, 5 vertical FireMaster fire curtains and 2 FireMaster Concertina multi-faceted fire curtains installed within the university building offering protection from fire and smoke. With a large central atrium in the centre of the building, smoke control was a huge necessity on this project and therefore various bespoke engineered solutions were required to help solve the smoke and fire requirements.

As the leading manufacturer of fire and smoke curtains, Coopers were appointed to develop a smoke curtain system to provide an unintrusive method capable of controlling smoke migrating from the lower floors. It was also necessary to protect the un-insulated glazing installed above the atrium’s reception area with an approved fire curtain barrier system approved to provide a one hour insulating zone. Coopers manufactured, installed and commissioned two SmokeStop smoke curtains developed to control smoke generated in the event of fire and effectively channel it away from occupants during evacuation.

Striking the optimum balance between aesthetics and fire safety in glazed partitions is a reality with new additions to the SYSTEMGLAS® range from passive fire protection market leader Promat UK. Utilising the proven fire resistant material PROMATECT® H, two new Promat SYSTEMGLAS® options give designers and contractors the scope to create frameless, butt-jointed glazed screens that maximise light transmission, whilst offering fire integrity and insulation (EI) fire protection for 30 or 60 minutes.

Eurobond designed & manufactured a range of steel fire doors and steel acoustic doors for a leading tech giant.The Gemini Data Centre in Dublin, Ireland, is a fort of protected data; over 10,400 sq.m of space is utilised for cloud connectivity and leading technology providers, comprising of 6 individual data halls and ancillary services.All this data needs protection - that's where we helped. We provided fire-rated doors, acoustic security doors, and radar-operated automation doors.Protection of data and people was key, along with minimal noise and easy yet secure access throughout the complex.

The Northern General Hospital in Sheffield chose Yeoman Shield fire rated door protection systems to refurbish doors in the Radiology Department. The configuration and refurbishment of the department was undertaken to improve patient flow, the overall environment and to rationalise inpatient and outpatient areas to satisfy privacy, dignity and capacity issues. Yeoman Shield’s (Harrison Thompson) directly employed fixing operatives, who have been assessed as being competent to install such passive fire-resistant products by FIRAS, installed fire rated door protection panels, PVCu clad Glazing Bead Units and Door Edge Protectors to various doors throughout the unit.

The fire protection of critical movement joints within the main floor slabs of the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Birmingham has consumed some 1,000 linear metres of FIREFLY™ TITAN Lite™ 120/60, as a well proven and widely specified passive fire protection product.

PPG interior and exterior coatings are enhancing protection, safety and sustainability for the new Beijing Daxing International Airport terminal building. The terminal, which is the largest in the world at 7.5 million square feet, was designed and constructed using green concepts. It features four PPG products on its main structural steel and other metal components: PPG STEELGUARD™ FM 550 thin-film intumescent coating for fire protection; PPG PSXTM 700 two-component, engineered siloxane coating for exterior protection; PPG SIGMADUR™ 2800 fluorocarbon finish for all-around weather resistance; and PPG DURANAR™ fluoropolymer coating for exceptional durability. PPG STEELGUARD FM 550 coating was applied to the terminal’s main steel structure, including the main hall, concourses and boarding gates. The coating provides up to 150 minutes of protection from cellulosic fires. The high-performance topcoat system also extends a painted surface’s lifespan to 15 to 20 years compared to five to eight years for traditional polyurethane topcoats. “The PPG team successfully solved a number of challenges regarding the application of the cellulosic passive fire protection coating to the steel superstructure,” said Xin Cheng, PPG passive fire protection support manager, protective and marine coatings (PMC). “These included applying the coating in an exposed outdoor environment during winter and maintaining a complex and tight balance between stringent on-site safety management and control, construction quality management and project schedule control.” Coating the structural steel before the roof was put on the terminal building was a major reason on-site coater RIC Red-Hendsel (Beijing) International Construction Co., Ltd., recommended PPG STEELGUARD FM 550 coating The coating provides protection from outdoor exposure for up to 12 months without a topcoat. “Our country is paying increasing attention to safety, and the standards are becoming stricter,” said Weiqin Wang, managing director, RIC Red-Hendsel (Beijing). “Under this overarching premise, we worked with PPG's technical team to solve engineering problems and win the owner's approval with top-notch quality in both application and the coating product.” PPG SIGMADUR 2800 air-drying fluorocarbon topcoat, which was used for the main steel structure of the airport terminal building, can maintain color stability and self-cleaning properties under prolonged ultraviolet radiation. It is resistant to cracking, corrosion and mechanical impact. The steel grid structure of the airport roof is coated extensively with PPG PSX 700 topcoat. This patented polysiloxane technology offers extended color and gloss retention that outperforms typical polyurethane and has corrosion resistance equaling that of epoxy. The coating has high solid content with low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and meets strict environmental protection regulations. The roof’s golden exterior is protected by PPG Duranar fluoropolymer coating, which offers durable color retention and exceptional performance against weathering in all environments. The product meets AAMA 2605 performance specifications. “In coating steel structures like those at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, sustainability mainly is achieved in three ways,” said Wen Zhou, PPG general manager, PMC, Asia Pacific. “The first is reducing material waste and emissions and increasing safety through effective fire protection. The second is conserving resources by extending product life and reducing the frequency of repairs. The third is protecting people's health and the environment through reduced VOC emissions.”

Coopers were commissioned to design and manufacture a bespoke curtain barrier system that, in the event of fire, would guard against smoke penetrating the upper floors of the store. Through regional partner Souchie, Coopers installed a series of Smoke Stop™ vertical smoke curtains above each escalator specifically designed to protect the means of escape for customers, whilst at the same time dramatically reduce the transmission throughout the building of life threatening gases generated by fire.

The high strength Isotec 200 loft ladder offers superb thermal insulation with a U-value of 0.17 W/m2K and a class 4 certified airtight seal. In addition, it offers 60 minutes fire and heat protection (tested according to EN 1634-1, EN1363-1, ÖNORM 3860). The Isotec 200 loft ladder is ideally suited for energy efficient, low-carbon buildings where fire protection is needed.

HAG Ltd. were tasked with protecting the building both through the supply & installation of essential fire protection systems, such as fire shutters & fire curtains and high security steel door sets throughout the building, located in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.

Aluminium pipe boxing from the Pendock Profiles range is being used at a London tower block to conceal and protect fire sprinkler pipework, cabling and other services as part of a fire safety upgrade and refurbishment programme.Bespoke manufactured to the exact dimensions and project requirements, the metal boxing is non-combustible, which makes it suitable for use in public areas, such as lift lobbies, landings and corridors, where no sprinkler heads are present.Finished in white PPC, the metal boxing not only improves the overall aesthetics, but also provides durable protection for pipework and services, while the integrated hinged inspection panels allow easy access for routine checks and maintenance.

From the Tower of London to The Royal Palaces, Coopers is trusted to install fire and smoke curtains barriers for some of the world’s most iconic heritage buildings. With this knowledge, appointed architects Arrol & Snell assigned Coopers to develop a system that would help protect the cathedral’s Undercroft and Treasury from smoke migration in the event of a fire. The smoke barrier system had to allow visitors to exit the Undercroft and Treasury safely, whilst preventing smoke from entering the main body of the cathedral, but any system had to be sympathetic to its unique and ancient architecture.