An efficient fire safety strategy is a crucial element in every building project. The strategy needs to be thoroughly engineered to ensure the safety of occupants and property and to secure regulatory approval. Buro Happold’s fire engineering design and risk assessment (FEDRA) group has a proven track record of designing strategies that meet building regulations while not detracting from the building’s aesthetics or functionality.
FEDRA has two approaches to fire design: we follow current fire code safety guidance – which is satisfactory for most ‘simple’ fire safety requirements but can act as a constraint on design – or adopt a more flexible and imaginative approach on complex projects where the design is more aspirational, such as buildings requiring open spaces and high atriums.
Basing our designs on sound fire engineering principles, we create innovative solutions that help to bring the architectural ‘vision’ to life and add value to the project – substantial cost savings can be made by reducing unnecessary fire protection, smoke venting or escape capacity. FEDRA has also pioneered the concept of ‘opposed airflow’ for smoke control. This requires smaller extractors and so frees up more space for development.
Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to model the internal spaces and assess the behaviour of fire and smoke using different scenarios, as well as predicting crowd evacuation patterns. This analysis enables us to develop means of escape via the nearest exit, including alternative routes for disabled people. We also consider heat build-up and the fire resistance qualities of the building structure and other materials.
Exciting concepts that might otherwise have proved difficult to develop have become a reality as a result of FEDRA’s input. Working within a multi-disciplinary practice enables us to draw on the expertise of Buro Happold’s other engineering specialists and tailor our solutions to the specific needs of each project. Our close links with the universities of Sheffield and Greenwich are helping us to progress this relatively new discipline still further.
