Passive fire protection on prestigious residential development in Westminster

Published on: 6 October 2017

In the heart of Westminster lies Abell and Cleland, a prestigious residential development that offers 275 rooms in the capital. Abell House and Cleland House sit on either side of John Islip Street, they deliver first-class residents’ facilities and offer exceptional levels of style and luxury in keeping with the culture and history of its surroundings.

Both buildings provide a very architecturally impressive design, whilst not straying away from the historic design of Westminster. As with any high-rise building, the safety of the people inside is paramount, which is why the products used within the development had to be carefully considered. One of these carefully considered products was the passive fire protection system.

To download our checklist of 15 considerations that should be made when choosing a passive fire protection or fire stopping system, click below.

What role do passive fire protection products play?

Abell and Cleland is made up of multiple compartments that isolate parts of the building in the event of a fire. Passive fire protection products are used to help create this compartmentalisation, sealing any gaps, created by pipes or cables, that could possibly lead to fire or smoke passing through walls, floors and ceilings. Buildings must ensure that any openings and gaps are fire stopped to restrict both lateral and vertical fire spread.

In prestigious residential accommodation such as these, it is also beneficial that passive fire protection products provide soundproofing between compartments.

Delivering suitable passive fire resistance for expanding and contracting pipework

The large pipework that required a fire stop solution was experiencing significant expansion and contraction. It is imperative that this is taken into account when selecting a solution as over time, the pipe movement can make some products completely ineffective. The Abell and Cleland development required a product that:

Could withstand extensive expanding and contracting, and still remain effective.
Could be installed around pipework within the basement that was difficult to access
Was suitable for use in a variety of different substrates and pipe arrangements that needed the passive fire protection
Was easy to install to ensure correct installation and fast fitting so as not to delay the project.

The answer to fire stopping in Abell and Cleland

The Walraven Pacifyre® MKII Fire Sleeve was the ideal firestop to use at Abell and Cleland as it was designed to allow pipes to expand and contract whilst ensuring an effective fire seal. Our range of fixing points and slide guides were also used to effectively support the expanding pipework around the building.

Due to the fact that Walraven are also manufacturers of pipe support systems, we understand how they behave as a whole, and how this can impact on fire safety. Therefore, we developed our fire sleeve to allow for pipe expansion and contraction, preventing any potential failure due to pipe movement over time.

Our team, who have expert knowledge in developing and testing passive fire protection systems provided technical advice throughout the project. We also came up with a range of design solutions to support the build and give on-site support from our industry experts.

Do you have a question about passive fire protection or fire stopping?

The Walraven team have over 30 years’ experience in fire stopping. They have worked on huge fire stopping projects such as The Shard and are experts in both new build projects and remediation. They are willing to discuss your fire stopping projects and assist you with problem-solving, technical design and more.