Nova, Victoria, UK
By Jemma Davis
Fire curtains in tall buildings
Nova, Victoria is a mixed-use property development in Victoria, London SW1 and divided into Nova Southand Nova North. The development completed in April 2017 and comprises five buildings occupying the island site opposite Victoria Station bounded by Bressenden Place, Victoria Street and Buckingham Palace Road, SW1.
The 897,000 sq ft development houses world-class office space, high-quality apartments and a cluster of inventive and exciting restaurants, eateries, bars and rotating food experiences. The Nova building was designed by PLP Architecture for the client, Victoria Circle Limited Partnership (Land Securities and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board). Coopers Fire worked with the interior fit out & refurbishment contractor to ensure the project was completed as required.
Nova Victoria, a prominent mixed-use development in London, stands as a testament to modern architectural brilliance and urban development. Comprising office spaces, residential units, and retail outlets, the building’s height and complexity posed significant fire safety challenges. To address these, the developers integrated advanced fire curtain systems provided by Coopers Fire.
fire curtains in tall buildings, London
- Location: Nova Victoria, London
- Building Type: Mixed-use development
- Components: Office spaces, residential units, retail outlets
- Height: 170 meters (approx.)
Benefits of Fire Curtains in Tall Buildings
- Enhanced Safety: Fire curtains provide a critical barrier against the spread of fire and smoke, protecting occupants and allowing safe evacuation.
- Aesthetic Integration: The bespoke design of the concertina fire curtains ensures they blend seamlessly with the building’s architecture, maintaining the visual appeal of Nova Victoria.
- Regulatory Compliance: The installation meets all relevant fire safety regulations, providing peace of mind to the building’s occupants and owners.
- Flexibility: The deployable nature of the fire curtains allows for unobstructed movement within the building under normal conditions, deploying only when a fire is detected.
Conclusion
The integration of Coopers Fire curtains in Nova Victoria highlights the importance of innovative fire safety solutions in modern high-rise buildings. The project’s success underscores the effectiveness of bespoke fire curtains in enhancing building safety without compromising design and functionality.
WHy use a Concertina fire curtains in a tall building?
- Coopers Fire installed a large, multi-faceted FireMaster Concertina Closed fire curtain in this tall building project. The Firemaster Concertina “Closed” Fire Curtain was a perfect choice to provide the compartmentation required for the project.
- The client utilising floors 12 and 13 wanted to keep an open plan feel between floors to allow a more free flowing environment for the staff. To achieve this, a bespoke staircase was designed connecting the floors.
- The spiral staircase was a major feature on floor 12 and meant that staff were able to move freely between floors 12 and 13 without using the lifts.
- The concertina fire curtain was able to offer the fire separation whilst keeping the open plan design.
- To avoid a door and lobby at the top or bottom of the stairs for fire separation, a fire curtain was designed in conjunction with the feature spiral staircase.
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Why use a concertina fire curtain in a tall building?
Coopers Fire were able to work with the interior fit out contractors to ensure that stringent fire regulations were met without compromising the building’s unique open plan designs.
Coopers Fire ensured that the fire curtain system remained sympathetic to the property’s design by concealing the fire curtain in the ceiling void. The interaction between the fire curtain soffit plate and the ceiling was designed so the fire curtain cannot be seen until deployed.
The FireMaster Concertina can be designed to suit an array of shapes and sizes thereby offering fire safety solutions to suit complex building designs. The FireMaster Concertina is compliant to BS 8524-1:2013, the leading global fire curtain standard.
Coopers Fire is a turnkey business, offering the customer a product and service with full provenance. Coopers Fire designs, manufactures, tests, installs and maintains all its fire curtains from our business premises in Hampshire, UK.
