Seeing Through The Smoke
When considering the fire strategy in buildings, designers have flexibility in the use of glass to provide fire protection and smoke containment. The appropriate Building Regulations provide guidance on the required performance for either fire containment including both heat and flames or smoke control where the integrity of the glass and framing is affected by reduced rise in temperatures.
The Code of Practice BS 5588 pt7 ‘Fire precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings”: part 7 “code of Practice for the incorporation of atria in buildings’ provides guidance on the use of glass and framing for smoke control in buildings. Key statements are made for the selection of glass type’s dependant upon maximum temperatures,
Open plan building design such as shopping malls require active and passive smoke control products to work together. Where smoke temperatures generally are stated at 300°C for a period of 30 minutes, Fendor Pyrolithic glass down stand system offers designers the near invisible appearance of the glass to act as a physical barrier for low temperature smoke. With performance certification to BS 7346 Pt3 1990, the glass creates smoke reservoirs which can be vented with the active extract system.
Fire engineering principles will provide the strategy and suggest products to meet a set of calculated data. This can give architects the choice to be innovative with the design but always products must be selected and installed to test parameters that are measured.
Fendor range of smoke and fire resistant products are backed with fire certification or third party fire assessments.