School of Engineering - University of Birmingham, UK
The Problem
The proposed design focused around the provision of two central atria which connect the upper floors of the building. The atria will be open to the floor plates and include bridges and open balconies which would form the egress from several academic offices, flexi-bays and meeting rooms. The current design does not comply with standard Building Regulations guidance and a fire engineered approach was needed to demonstrate an appropriate standard of safety.
The Solution
We developed a fire engineered approach which reflected the geometry of the building, the occupancy characteristics of the building user, the potential fire loading and risk of fire. The engineered approach reflected the already high standard of safety in the building. This demonstrated that the proposed design would achieve an equal or better standard of safety than found in a code-compliant design.
The Results
The building’s fire strategy has been approved with Building Control and West Midlands Fire + Rescue Service and the project is now under construction, slated for completion at the end of 2020.
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