Open plan layouts as an architectural trend is here, either
in homes or flats, there is no denying that the increased feel of space and the
ability to maximise the use of small footprint properties make it a win-win for
architects and occupants.
The reason this was not a default setup in the past is
because it went against the prescriptive guidance. So what has changed? The adoption of fire
engineering principles in the guidance documents that are issued for the
industry such as Approved Document B and BS 9991. These documents used to be compartmentation
heavy, i.e. they would rely only on passive fire protection measures such as
walls, fire doors and door closers to ensure a fire would develop only within a
room, leaving the escape route free for occupants. This required a “protected
corridor” to be designed through the property where escape could take
place. And as a consequence your open
plan dream went out of the window. The
increased use of sprinklers, water mist, enhanced (linked) detection and alarm
and automatic opening vents are all fire engineering tools that have been
commonly applied to larger commercial building and are slowly finding their way
to homes. This trend will only increase because
technology is progressively getting cheaper; there is increased value to be
added to a property by applying them and the emergence of “smart homes”, liking
smart products. With increased demand
comes an increase in innovation within the industry to help architects deliver
contemporary, open plan solutions whilst complying with the requirements of the building regulations
(safe escape from a fire) without necessarily using doors and walls (fake or
real).
Plumis’s Automist Smartscan is part of this wave of innovation, a discreet fire suppression
appliance designed for use in homes. The system activates when fire
temperatures are detected, using a fine water mist to restore survivable
conditions while occupants escape. The
innovation is in the placement of the spray head (at light switch height) and
the targeting of mist (to only where the fire is) resulting in a very effective
and efficient solution with only a tenth of the required flow of a sprinkler and
much less installation effort.
With great power
comes great responsibility
At Plumis we come across a large number of projects being
proposed for building control approval which propose the use of suppression to
compensate for the removal of walls in refurbishments and new build. However, one of the things that continues to
surprise us is the poor interpretation
of the intended use of suppression, whether a sprinkler or water mist.
To “protect the means of escape” simply means ensuring that
even with removal of doors and walls, survivable conditions are kept between
any room in the property and the escape route.
If a kitchen is accessed from the stairs that leads to the first floor
with no passive separation (door or wall), then the kitchen needs suppression.
If there is a study with a non-fire rated door also accessed by that route then
yes, it also needs suppression. To our
surprise a frequent interpretation by architects and BCOs alike has been to put
suppression on the stairs only. That
will not only do nothing to suppress the fire raging in the kitchen from a
failed flambé dessert, it will also make people slip down the stairs which has
nothing to burn (and therefore to be suppressed) in the first place. The first
image that comes to mind is a scene of “Three Stooges in flambé dessert in my
open plan mansion” or a typical HSE poster showing everything that can go wrong
in a construction site. Yet, it is a
common and simple form of miss-interpreting
“protecting the means of escape”.
The cause of this misinterpretation is the increased
availability of fire engineering solutions but limited use of fire engineers. This is either because it is assumed one is
not needed or not affordable. There is
an incorrect perception that fire engineers will only work on large commercial
buildings and because of that they are too expensive. They are the best suited to interpret the
needs and to utilise suppression or any other solutions in the best way to meet
building regulations.
Plumis does their role in explaining the fire engineering
principles for the application of Automist in its training, specification manuals
(download one free), our CPDs (book one free) and in this article so that a
propped fire door is not replaced by a poorly specified system. Additionally, since architects have been given
the freedom to service the demand for open plan designs by proposing creative solutions,
some of the proposals we see do not result in an obvious suppression
specification plan and as a consequence further measures may be required. This is clearly fire engineering territory
and it is precisely what Plumis recommends to the leads of “creative” projects
and on our website, where there are
lists of fire engineers that are acquainted with our products’ performance and
who will where appropriate include Automist as an active component in an
overall fire strategy for specific projects.
Have no fear, if you have a non-standard layout, contact a fire engineer
for a “Best Value” solution, which is suitable and sufficient for your project.
It’s likely to be less expensive than you think and will deliver excellent
value, in terms of reassurance and life safety!
