When it comes to fire safety, is it important to consider both methods for the prevention and for the control of a fire within a building.
Fire curtains protect openings in walls
When putting together a fire strategy to keep your business or home safe from the risks of fire, openings in walls are notoriously difficult to reconcile with fire safety regulations. This is in the main is due to their often-awkward sizes and locations.
Not to mention that wall openings are often there for a specific functionality purpose, which means that permanent obstruction – even in the name of safe compartmentalisation – is out the question.
Fortunately, at Coopers Fire we have the fit all solution; fire curtains.
Benefits of fire curtains
Fire curtains have been developed to be able to work with modern building structures and architectural designs. And so, a bespoke combination of individually crafted Coopers Fire fire curtains can provide universal fire safety for any building, regardless of layout and features. Such a solution can prove very beneficial for those looking to protect openings in walls.
For example, the Firemaster® and Vii®Fire fire curtain have both been specially designed to provide discreet vertical fire protection. Thus, they can be installed in every standard commercial or domestic building seamlessly and are perfectly suited to protect a range of wall openings including, lifts, kitchens, serving hatches, stairs, lobbies, windows and doors, counters and even cross-corridor separation.
The installation of fire curtains also provides further benefits. For instance, because they deploy automatically they are a safer alternative to manual methods of combating fire and smoke which require the user to come into close contact to control or indeed extinguish the spread.
Not only this, but when serviced and maintained by Coopers Fire fire curtains guarantee a lifetime of compliance with fire regulations and insurance requirements.
Coopers Fire are the UK’s only fire and smoke curtain manufacture approved by an Independent Third-Party Accreditation to carry out the servicing of fire barrier curtains and smoke curtains.
Case study: Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford
The Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford opened its doors to the students and staff in November 2015.
Comprising a large central atrium, smoke control was a key focus for this project with various bespoke solutions required to help meet the safety requirements.
In total, Coopers Fire installed 30 active SmokeStop smoke curtains, 2 FireMaster Concertina fire curtains and 5 vertical FireMaster fire curtains. Of which the latter were deployed with the aim of protecting various wall openings.
These vertical fire curtains were installed throughout level 3 to 5 of the school with the intention of allowing for the open plan flow of the building – which is was essential for the collaborative learning environment that the architecture had captured – to remain as intended. Whilst, at the same time, preventing the spread of fire through the building, providing compartmentation and crucially an ensured and protected means of escape.
Acting not only as the manufacturer but also installer on this project, Coopers Fire were able to ensure that our trademark level of high quality was present throughout; from conception to finish.
More information on fire curtains for openings in walls
If you would like any additional information on any of our products, recent projects or how we can help you, please get in touch today. We would be more than happy to provide a quote, CAD drawings or even just some advice on protecting buildings from fire and smoke.
Coopers Fire has a long and successful history of producing fire and smoke curtain barrier systems for installation worldwide. Every Coopers Fire fire curtain is third party accredited to BS, EN and UL standards, including the British Standard for fire curtains BS 8524 Parts 1 and 2. Coopers Fire also has independent third-party accreditation for the installation, commissioning and servicing of fire and smoke curtains.
For more information, go to www.coopersfire.com
