FIREFLY® Creates protected zone in Manchester hospital rebuild
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A continuing collaboration between FIREFLY® and a Manchester based installation specialist has seen the manufacturer provide site specific details and inspections at one of the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s campuses to enable an ageing tiled roof structure to be brought up to contemporary standards as part of the £54M modernisation programme currently in progress.
The work at North Manchester General Hospital is being led by Hive Projects along with Sheppard Robson Architects to deliver a new Acute Hospital as well as a mental health unit, well-being hub and other modern facilities. In one of the few buildings being refurbished, Prosol UK is undertaking an exacting sub-contract to City Build Ltd, where the need to upgrade the existing roof and wall areas to create a ‘Protected Zone’ above a retained stairwell required a bespoke specification offering.
The Technical Manager for FIREFLY®, Chris Boam commented: “This had to be treated as a Protected Zone due to the nature of the roof construction: where the compartment wall terminates beneath a traditional tiled roof, with no roofing membrane present – leaving an open void at the head of the wall. This therefore creates a route where fire could bypass the compartment line and spread into the adjacent space. Approved Document B directs that where it is not possible to close the compartment line directly to the underside of the roof covering, a protected zone should be formed to maintain compartmentation: typically extending to 1.5 metres either side of the wall. Using the FB180 system allowed the compartmentation line to be continued within the roof void, with additional protection measures applied to the surrounding timber elements.”
The Senior Fire Officer for Manchester University Foundation NHS Trust; Gary Brown is responsible for approving all fire protection measures on the project. He added: “Our team was at the Fire Safety Event in Manchester when I first saw Batt for use between wooden joists, so I was aware of the performance potential, when someone proposed using the Titan barrier curtain for the current work at North Manchester, so I made the contractor and other parties aware of what was a cheaper and more practical alternative in the circumstances. Crucially, FIREFLY® has carried out all the testing and so the product ticked all the boxes.”
The 1200 x 600mm sheets are 60 mm thick and feature the specially formulated ablative coating on both sizes of the layered, non-combustible mineral fibre which has a density of 180 kg/m3. The product is tested in accordance with BS EN 1363-1 2022 and BS EN 1364-2 while offering 90 minutes integrity and one hour’s insulation.
