Fire Consultancy Projects

Residential Fire Consultancy

Office Fire Consultancy

Shop Fire Consultancy

Educational Fire Consultancy

High Tech Unit Fire Consultancy

Art Gallery Fire Consultancy

Theatre Fire Consultancy

Entertainment Fire Consultancy

Museum Fire Consultancy

Multi-use Complex Fire Consultancy

Heritage Fire Consultancy

Warehouse Fire Consultancy

Food Processing and Storage Fire Consultancy

Industrial Fire Consultancy

Hotel Fire Consultancy

Hospital Fire Consultancy

Laboratory Fire Consultancy

Car park Fire Consultancy

Transport Fire Consultancy

Marina Fire Consultancy

Bridge Fire Consultancy

Defence Fire Consultancy

Fire Resistance Assessment Fire Consultancy

Product Innovation Fire Consultancy

Sandwich Panel Fire Consultancy

Code Drafting Fire Consultancy

Fire Wall Fire Consultancy

Private Apartment, Orchard Place, Mayfair, London W1

This prestigious 8-storey apartment building is adjacent to Portman Square in Central London. The building incorporates a number of open-topped light wells. MDesign had designed a new interior for an apartment in the penultimate storey which featured a large air conditioning/heat pump unit venting to a 5m square light well. This unit was immediately below a bathroom window in the apartment above. The owner of the top apartment was concerned that the unit would be a fire risk.

I was asked to give an independent assessment of the fire risk. I pointed out that the building regulations official guidance (Approved Document B 'Fire Safety') does not recommend against the use of window- or wall-mounted AC units in external walls, and that this may be taken to imply that they are not regarded as a serious life safety hazard. Nonetheless, I examined the fire risk in the particular context. The AC unit was a heat pump which comprises a compressor and the associated electrical motor, a tank for storing the refrigerant and pipework operating at a pressure of 350psi. The refrigerant gas within the AC unit is held partly in vapour form and partly in liquid form in a pressurized tank. I considered a number of fire scenarios and, in particular, I examined what would happen if there should be a fire within the unit involving the release of a plume of vapour and the possible effects this might have on the neighbour above. My conclusion was that the fire risk was acceptable.

Client: MDesign London

Mixed-use 6-storey development at 150 Curtain Road, London EC2.

The existing 5-storey building had office accommodation over the lower 3 floors and a storey was to be added so that the upper three floors would form new flats and duplexes. There was a single full height staircase at the front and an external steel fire escape serving lower storeys at the rear. Construction of the residential units was well advanced. The problem was that building regulation guidance (para 2.51 of AD B) could be interpreted to mean that the new residential units should have independent alternative escape routes. I surveyed the building, discussed the proposals with the architect and developed a fire safety strategy which involved much improved lobby protection to the staircase, a smoke ventilation scheme for the stairs, a comprehensive fire detection/alarm scheme, and consideration of the use of the flat roofs of the developer and his neighbour as temporary safe refuges. By tracking the route of occupants from any room, for any fire location, it could be seen that there was always two escape routes available to a place of safety in the open air. The strategy was accepted by building control.

Client: Douglas & King Ltd, architects, London EC2.

Fire safety strategy report on the Sir Nicholas Garrow House, Kensal Rise, London.

The previous use of the property was a residential hostel for the blind with ancillary office, storage and educational accommodation. The building comprises office accommodation on the ground floor and at the front part of the upper floors. The rear part of the upper floors comprised 12 studios and 24 one and two-bed flats.The owner was refurbishing the building for the purpose of using it for a hostel for people of all abilities. I was asked to prepare a fire safety stratgey report to assist with building control approval. I made a survey of the buildng and site and took account of the internal planning, fire safety systems, egress requirements, fire service assistance, smoke removal/clearance systems, building separation considerations and car parking.

Client: Patent Properties.

Hostel, 315 - 317 Ballards Lane, North Finchley, London.

I was commissioned to assist on the resolution of two problems in the 5-storey occupied hostel.
One problem was the unacceptable internal planning of each of the 80 bed-sit flats in the building caused by the location of the electric cooking hob in the narrow entrance (the only fire escape exit) of each flat. The concern was that a cooking fat fire could make it dangerous for occupants to escape. Several options were investigated and it was my recommendation that each hob should be modified so that a fat fire was impossible, and this was done and proven acceptable to the various approval authorities following consideration of worst case fire scenarios and a comprehensive range of cooking tests. This modification work was successfully accomplished with the assistance of Destech UK - a company specializing in the testing and approval of domestic appliances.
The second problem involved remedial work on inadequate cavity barriers and associated fire stopping which had to be done with minimum disruption to occupants. The problem is illustrated in the diagram which gives a vertical section through a room/corridor junction at ceiling level.
Finally I prepared a fire safety manual for the building and this included a survey to identify active and passive fire precautions. Advice was also given to the building management on making a fire risk assessment.

Client: Patent Properties, London

Six-storey private house in Great Ormond St, London

Advice given on life safety features in this magnificent conserved single-staircase Georgian building. Particular attention paid to inadequate roof top escape, fire detection and smoke stopping properties of doors.

Client: private owner

Private Appartment, 15 Portman Square, Mayfair, London, W1

This prestigious 11 storey residential building has an open internal courtyard which contains a conventional steel fire escape stair which serves all storeys. There is also an internal stair for everyday use alongside an electric passenger lift, both serving all floors. There is a dry rising main near the external fire escape. The District Surveyor had reservations about the proposed removal of a smoke lobby and also the efficacy of escape onto a roof using a retractable loft ladder. By making a survey of the building and making a careful examination of all the proposed alterations I was able to show that, if some additional modifications were made, a lobby was effectively formed in the internal layout of the apartment and that roof escape was viable. My report was submitted to the DS and the recommendations accepted, avoiding the use of residential sprinklers.

Client: MDesign, Interior Designers, London.

Conversion of former 'Queens' theatre to a single family residence, Queenstown Rd, Battersea, London.

The site was difficult, having a very narrow frontage (1.7m) and large depth with only one conventional escape route exiting at the front onto the road.The building was two storeys at the front (the lower storey was a corridor) and the rear was designed to be developed into an unusual single family, three-storey residence, mainly open plan double volume on two floors. Light tubes were to be used to bring natural light into the interior. I surveyed the building, negotiated modifications with the archtect, and prepared a carefully argued fire safety engineering strategy which was accepted by the District Surveyor.

Client: private developer. Architect: Douglas and King

Robart House, Lodge Lane, London N12

The property comprised two 2-story houses which had previously been converted into flats. A new developer had constructed a further flat in the roof space of each house and this had created a means of escape problem with the extension of the two-storey escape stair. I was commissioned to find a remedy. Each roof top flat had a self contained hard wired smoke and heat detection system. The new roof top flats were served by an extension of the existing staircase. The staircase had been fitted with a hard-wired interlinked smoke detection system, employing a smoke detector outside each flat's front door. The developer felt he had done all within his power to provide a suitable package of active and passive fire precautions, bearing in mind he had no right of access to upgrade the doors in the occupied flats.
After surveying the building and considering the great difficulty of upgrading the internal doors to FD 20S of the occupied flats required under the current code (some doors were glazed and seen as characterful by the residents) the function of the non-fire resisting internal doors was carefully reviewed.

The solution to the problem was to leave the internal doors as they were, increase the fire resistance and smoke resistance of the front doors of the existing flats to prevent a fully developed fire invading the staircase, and install a sounder (not a detector) just inside the front door of each occupied flat giving minimum disruption to tenants, the sounder forming part of the staircase fire detection system so that smoke in the staircase would be brought to the attention of everybody in the flats giving them time to escape. This was accepted by building control.

Client: private developer

Private house, Hutton Grove, London N12

The house had been purchased without building approval for the existing open plan on the ground floor and an open staircase communicating with a loft extension accommodating two bedrooms - this contravened the guidance given under the building regulations. The problem was overcome with the provision of guidance and the installation of an automatic domestic sprinkler system according to BS DD 251 and an automatic fire detection system according to BS 5839 Part 6. This was accepted by building control.

Client: new owner of house

The Highlands, Barnet

My work involved making a survey of the 3-storey block of prestigious private flats to assess compartmentation, means of escape, the number of and type of occupants using the staircase, and the impediment caused by the new folding stair lift installation. My recommendation was that the means of escape was adequate and this was accepted.

Client: Barnet Homes

Sir Nicholas Garrow House, Kensal Rd, London W10

The work involved the preparation of a fire safety strategy for this 3-storey hostel following a survey of the building and site. Special attention was paid to the internal planning and fire protection systems.

Client: Patent Properties

Chalybeate Lodge, Hastings

Resolution of means of escape problems in this single staircase lodge converted into 11 flats which involved the use of residential sprinklers.

4-storey house, Linton Crescent, Hastings

I surveyed the house and made recommendations for an active fire defence package because of the single staircase and other escape problems.

Client: private owner

6-storey block of flats, St Leonards on Sea, Sussex

Resolution of means of escape with existing single staircase

Callow Park Country Club, Derby.

Survey of building, advice on fire resistance of steel structure, means of escape, installation of fire shutters in bedrooms, hazard of falling glazing.

Client: Derek Latham and Associates, Architects, Derby.

Brierley Court Development, Hereford.

Assessment of fire resistance of unprotected external steelwork in 2 storey flats.

Client: Meredith Hyett Architectural Partnership.

Bellinge Housing, Northants

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Assessment of central heating boiler fire risk to means of escape.

Client: Chief Architect and Planning Officer, Northampton Development Corporation.

Gordon Mansions, Camden

Comments on proposals for upgrading the means of escape

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Client: Planning and Communications Department, High Holborn, London

BISF and AIREY Houses.

Advice on the relative fire risk in these steel and concrete framed houses compared with other forms of framed houses (taking account of wall cavities etc).

Client: Local Authority Housing Departments around the country

Mobile Homes, South Africa.

Advice on fire safety.

Client: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, 1978.

Caerau Hostel for Homeless Families, Cardiff.

Advice on fire resistance of floors topped with magnesite.

Client: County Architects Department, Cardiff

Frome Cottages, Lincoln.

Assessment of fire resistance of exposed timber joist floor.

Client: Shrimpton and Salmon, Ludlow, Shrops, 1978.

Pembroke House, Islington.

Advice on fire fighting shaft, especially the enclosure of the fire fighting stair and its ventilation.

Client: Green Moore Lowenhoff, Architects and Planners, London, 1996

Botany Estate Flatlets, East Sussex.

Assessment of fire risk of Plaschem rigid polyurethane foam ceiling boards and fire safety advice.

Client: Eastbourne Borough Council, East Sussex, 1978

4-storey houses, Singapore.

Fire risk assessment of four-storey houses with single unprotected stairway.

Client: Fire Safety Bureau, Singapore, 1995

IBIS Housing project.

Development and testing of family of lightweight housing components - intermediate and party floors, internal and external walls, party wall, roof and staircase - to meet regulatory and other requirements for structural strength, acoustic insulation and fire performance. (see Publications)

Client: Richard Thomas and Baldwin, and Pressed Steel Company.

Doxford International office complex, Sunderland.

Advice and recommendations on the use of unprotected steel lintels.

Client: Aukett Associates, Architects and Engineers, London, 1996

GPO Office Building, Belfast.

Advice on drencher protection of external wall opposite Thompson's Mill.

Client: Department of Finance, Belfast, 1977.

Chase Manhattan Bank, London.

Advice on effect of large bending moment on concrete-filled columns.

Client: Pell Frischmann & Partners, 1985

Dublin Bank, Irish Republic

I was asked to check the fire engineer's calculations of fire severity and passive fire protection of external steel hangers supporting the floors. I made recommendations for improving the design of the hanger protection.

Client: Dublin Fire Authority

McArthur office building, Bristol

Assessment of fire resistant glazing used as flame shields to prevent direct flame impingement on unprotected external steelwork.

Client: Richard Fenton Associates, consulting engineers, Bristol

Benbecula Offices.

Comments on a fire upgrading strategy and, in particular, advice on suspended ceilings and doors.

Client: Manning Clamp and Partners, Richmond, Surrey.

Redcar Steelworks Administration Offices.

Assessment of the inherent fire resistance of external unprotected steelwork.

Client: Atkins Research & Development, Epsom.

Sama Banks, Saudi Arabia.

Audit on fire protection requirements for multi-storey banks using unprotected steel.

Client: Felix Samuely and Partners, London

Redcar Steelworks Administration Offices.

Assessment of the inherent fire resistance of external unprotected steelwork.

Client: Atkins Research & Development, Epsom.

ICI Group Headquarters, Millbank, London

Audit of fire detection, and smoke control of glass smoke-stop doors.

Client: Crafer Associates, fire consultants, Somerset

6 Duke Street, London office building

Assessment, made at request of District Surveyor, of fire resistance of floors incorporating composite steel/concrete Thor beams.

Client: ConstrucThor PLC

New County Headquarters, Shinfield Park, Reading.

Assessment of behaviour of glazed doors in glazed screen.

Client: Department of Architecture, Royal County of Berkshire

National Westminster bank 200m high headquarters, City of London.

Setting up of fire tests in the Netherlands for the composite steel deck floors.

Client: Pell Frischmann and Partners, Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers, London

Central Telegraph Office Development.

Assessment of need for fire resistance in roof-support columns etc.

Client: Property Services Agency

Centre Court, Brent Cross shopping centre, North London.

Centre court, forming the intersection of four shopping malls in this 2-storey extensive shopping centre, was previously a sterile area except for a feature fountain, a wall climbing lift and escalators. The developer proposed to remove the fountain and install three retail display kiosks. There were two parts to my work. First, to check that the smoke extract management system would cope with a 10MW fire on the floor below the dome extraction, and this was done using the well-known axisymmetric smoke plume equation. Secondly, the fire consultants had provided calculations for space separation resulting from a black-box computer program which could not be directly checked by building control so I undertook my own calculations for the design fires adopted using the classic configuration factor for a rectangular radiator representing the flame and the implicitly permitted incident thermal radiation intensity (12.8kW/m2) under building regulations. I checked that the fire scenarios were reasonable and used my own spread sheet calculation for checking the incident radiation intensity from the flames.

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet, North London

Trocadero Development, Phase 1A, Piccadilly, London.

Assessment of stability and fire resistance of external cladding of faience.

Client: Arup Associates, 1980.

Retail Shop Premises at 15/16A Bradford Street, Walsall.

Assessment of fire resistance of steel/timber joisted floor.

Client: Watkins Group Woodgate International, Edgbaston.

The Arnedale Centre, Manchester

Site survey and advice on cavity barriers above compartment walls.

Client: Hugh Wilson and Lewis Womersley, Manchester

Marks and Spencer, Walsall.

Assessment of hazard to M&S occupants above a precast concrete floor containing expanded polystyrene void formers due to fire in a train below.

Client: Norman Jones & Rigby, Southport, 1979.

Retail Shop Premises at 15/16A Bradford Street, Walsall.

Assessment of fire resistance of steel/timber joisted floor.

Client: Watkins Group Woodgate International, Edgbaston, 1979.

EMI Staff Restaurant and Sales Shop.

Assessment of fire resistance of fibre reinforced concrete columns.

Co-op Superstore, Middlesborough.

Assessment of fire resistance of prestressed concrete double T units.

Client: Building Design Partnership, London

Middlesex University, Hendon Quadrangle.

The open quadrangle surrounded by the existing 3-storey buildings was to be roofed over to form an atrium nominally 35m square by 15m high which communicated with corridors in the existing building on all four sides, and this would attract the need for smoke management and a review of the impact of roofing over on existing means of escape and compartmentation and the incorporation of disabled refuges. The work involved checking, on behalf of building control, the fire safety strategy prepared by the fire consultants, calling for more information, requesting particular attention be paid to existing basement storage areas and checking the smoke control calculations for design fires on the floor of the atrium, both in the open and under a balcony, for which I made my own calculations according to BS DD 240. The review also covered fire fighting access and facilities, smoke detection and alarms, and emergency lighting. Because of the heavy work load on building control at the time I also reviewed the acoustic consultants' modelling of the acoustic reverberation time for the atrium. Architects were BPR, London. Fire consultants were LWF.

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet, North London.

Learning Resource Centre (LRC), Middlesex University, Hendon.

I was consultant to the Building Control Department to check and amend, at a late stage, the fire safety strategy proposed by the fire consultant, the design, and parts of the construction of this new educational complex containing a three-storey atrium open to the accommodation and extensive areas of external glazing. The building was sited very close to an existing building within the same ownership and part of my brief was to prepare calculations of radiation to the nearby building and suggest a remedy - the extension of a fire wall into the roof space and upgrading of the existing fire wall below in the nearby building so forming compartmentation. Architects were BPR.

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet, North London

Synagogue and School, Finchley Lane, London

Working with the architect, Steven Adams Architects, the brief was mainly to clarify how the two different parts of the building, new and old, would be evacuated under different combinations of use, and help justify the eventual design for building control approval. This required clarification of occupant numbers and distribution, means of escape and an improvement to compartmentation and giving guidance on the preparation of a fire safety manual.

Client: The Rabbi

Dunfermline High School.

Advice on design of suspended ceilings having a change of slope.

Client: Scottish Development Department..

Reading Assembly Hall.

Assessment of fire resistance of protected steel hangers.

Client: RMJM, London, 1977

The Anthony Reynolds Gallery, Great Malborough Street, London

I was asked to give a second opinion on the fire consultants design. I made a survey of this low fire load 4-storey building and gave an independent opinion on the use of fire detection activated roller smoke curtains instead of fire doors in parts of the gallery.

Client: Mr Anthony Reynolds

Pentland theatre, Tally Ho complex

See Complexes. Click here for article on the arts centre (Barnet Artsdepot)

Client: Building Control Dept, London Borough of Barnet.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, London.

Advice on fire protection of cast iron columns.

Client: Farrell Grimshaw Partnership, London

Millennium Dome, Greenwich, London

I gave assistance with the specification of fire scenarios, means of escape strategy and application for building approval for the six 2/3 storey core units in this 300m diameter, 50m high, 12-masted unique building (the largest dome in the world)

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Client: FEDRA, Buro Happold

Tally Ho arts centre (Barnet Artsdepot) and Community Focus, North London

Late in the construction of this multi-function complex it became clear that parts of the Arts Centre would be used by many more wheelchair-disabled people than the design had catered for (perhaps as many as 25 in Community Focus and occasionally 12 in the studio theatre) - the design did incorporate a number of refuges but these were no longer considered adequate. Having a good knowledge of the fire safety strategy and building systems, and having attended a fire drill, I was commissioned to look at improved and faster ways of evacuating wheelchair users out of the building in the event of a fire or bomb scare. Several practical options were considered which included the use of the scenery lift for nominally 12 wheelchair users near or in the studio theatre but this would discharge occupants into the bus concourse and would require the installation of a ramp or platform lift. The preferred option, agreed with the local fire service, was to make the passenger lifts at the entrance to the Arts Centre and a passenger lift in a protected lobby near the studio theatre safely usable in a fire emergency by providing them with an alternative electrical power supply and other measures. The cause and effect arrangement would then be changed in the addressable fire detection and alarm system and arrangements made so that electronically secured doors across fire escape corridors were accessible when wheelchair users were in the building.

Client: Barnet Environmental Agency

Click here for further information on the Tally Ho complex

Click here for further information on the arts centre (Barnet Artsdepot)

Summerland Sports and Leisure Centre, Isle of Man

I made an assessment of fire performance of the glass reinforced plastic (GRP) clad external wall and the fire stopping on the rebuilt design (after Summerland fire disaster)

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Client: Ministry of Finance, Belfast

Earls Court II Exhibition Hall, London

I made an audit of the building services engineer's calculations for the smoke control system. This involved examining the design fire scenario chosen and deciding if the smoke fill time was acceptable.Considerations were fire fighter's search time in the first floor gallery and also the effect, at fire inception, of ambient air movement on the smoke plume.

Client: Bovis Construction

Grand Opera House, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Assessment of fire resistance of cantilevered stage floor.

Client: Robert McKinstry, Belfast

Government International Conference Centre, Westminster.

Advice on fire protection to Macalloy bars used to suspend floors.

Client: Property Services Agency, London, 1979.

BBC Local Radio, Nottingham.

Assessment of fire behaviour of ductwork.

Client: BBC Building Services Unit, London

The Round House, Great Bowden, Leic.

Assessment of fire resistance of cast iron columns.

Client: Bilson and Green, Leicester

Grahame-White early aircraft exhibition hall, RAF museum, Hendon, North London.

This historic grade 11 listed building featuring five huge ‘Belfast Trusses’ spanning the full width of the building has been reconstructed on the present site. It is mainly a hangar housing early aircraft and is overlooked by a three-storey office area. Acted as fire consultant to Building Control Department to check the fire consultant’s smoke control calculations in the context of means of escape.

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet.

Multi-use Complex Fire Consultancy

Tally Ho Complex, Finchley, North London.

On this fascinating and complex project I was the fire consultant engaged by the Building Control Department of the London Borough of Barnet (a major London Local Authority). It was my job to check the fire safety strategy, design, construction and commissioning of this £50m multi-use complex. The complex incorporates a15 storey residential block, several retail units, two theatres forming part of an arts centre, technical college, health and fitness centre including a swimming pool, a 2-level underground car park and a bus station. Fire safety engineering is a major feature in this project as there is phased evacuation, a number of different tenants including an M&S retail unit, mechanical smoke removal in the main theatre foyer, a lightweight theatre floor which can be used in raised, lowered and tilted modes, and impulse fans for removal of car fumes and smoke in the underground car park. I was responsible for:

• agreeing design fires and making time-varying smoke control calculations to check those submitted by the consulting fire safety engineer
• checking means of escape, compartmentation, fire suppression systems, fire detection and alarm systems, cause and effect schedules, emergency lighting and some signage
• witnessing commissioning tests and verifying practical completion in terms of fire safety.

Work involved writing my own smoke control program in order to check consultants calculations for time-varying smoke filling of atrium. I was responsible for fire safety aspects under the building regulations, and also under the Licensing Act in the arts centre, and for some property protection aspects. The project was complicated by the need for interim hand-overs, complex project management and rigorously maintained tight timescales on a highly congested site . Lead architect: Ruddlle Wilkinson, Cambs. Theatre consultant: ACT Consulting Services, Cambs. Fire consultant: WSP Fire, Leeds.

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet, North London

Click here for further information the complex

Click here for further information on the arts centre

Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London.

As part of a team of fire consultants currently (September 2005) reviewing the fire safety engineering strategy of the Palace of Westminster, I contributed the parts of the qualitative design review (QDR) dealing with: the establishment of fire safety objectives; history of fires in similar buildings; and important fire and smoke spread scenarios. This interesting work is of critical value in view of the prestigious and important nature of the buildings which include roughly 1000 rooms. With other members of the team this study has involved making a selective survey of the buildings concentrating on the risk areas.

Client: KFP Consulting Ltd who were at that time undertaking a detailed review of the fire safety strategy and fire detection and voice alarm systems installed in the buildings.

Victoria Tower, Houses of Parliament

I made an assessment of fire reistance of fissured fire protection to steel beams.

Client: Property Services Agency

Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London

I made a site survey and assessment of fire precautions needed when upgrading the historic timber floors

Client: Andrews Kent and Stone, London

Shardlow Mill No 2.

Assessment of fire resistance of historic floor separating restaurant from residential accommodation

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Client: WM Walkerdine, Derby

Costco Warehouse, St Rollox, Glasgow

Review of life safety features including consideration of effectiveness of finger-corridor on means of escape.

Client: Price Costco, Watford

Grattan Warehouse, Lister Hills, Bradford.

Assessment of fire resistance of tall fire walls (in this, Europe's largest warehouse at the time), recommendations for fire test to obtain thermal bowing data, audit of Fire Safety Engineer's recommendations and survey of building during construction.

Client: Bowring Risk Management Ltd.

Welham Green warehouse, Herts

Assessment of mode of failure of precast concrete portal framed warehouse outside which a fire fighter was killed by falling construction

International Stores Depot, Farnborough

I made a survey of the building and advice on the design of new 2 hour fire wall including flexible fire stopping and means to accommodate unsympathetic thermal bowing in steel columns.

Client: Keith Hiley Associates, Richmond, Surrey

Bablake Wines Ltd New Warehouse and Office Buildings.

Assessment of effect of unprotected steelwork on stability of building.

Client: T O’Neill, Architect, Coventry.

Clayhill Industrial Estate, Woodford Green.

Assessment of need to fire protect wind bracing in portal framed building.

Client: Clarke Nicholls and Marcel, Hammersmith, London.

Lowfield Warehouse, Radlett.

Assessment of a) fire performance of columns surrounded by high rack storage and b) time to failure of whole structure.

Client: Peter Hill and Partners, Wimbledon

Extension to Ivatt Way Warehouse.

Assessment of fire performance of precast wall panels.

Client: Scott Brownrigg and Turner

Vegetable processing factory, near York

Fire risk assessment and report made to see what fire precautionary measures could be introduced to reduce the risk of serious fire in this remotely placed food processing factory, bearing in mind that the factory has evolved over time and contains a range of buildings and risks associated with processing, mixing, freezing and packing of all kinds of vegetables. Investigations were made to assess various ways of dealing with fire in cold stores operating at minus 20C, providing more water for fire fighting and improving compartmentation in the complex processing, mixing, freezing and packing of all kinds of vegetables such as carrots and peas. Initiated by insurers concern following the Sept 11 disaster

Client: J E Hartley Ltd, Pennine Frozen Foods Ltd

Food processing factories having plastic foam-cored sandwich panels

I provided expert opinion on whether or not the panel specifiers were negligent in the particular circumstances of the panel usage, and gave recommendations on what might be done to reduce the fire risk and insurance premiums.

Client: several companies in the UK.

Walkers Midshire Foods LTD, Leicester

Formal fire risk assessment under the Workplace regulations of three adjacent sites involving 100 rooms, many involving the use of combustible sandwich panels.

Client: Samworth Group

Findus Ltd building at Longbenton.

Assessment of compartmentation and fire stopping at roof level.

Client: Conder Northern Ltd.

Pledge Bakery Development.

Assessment of need for fire resistance in unprotected steel lintels in low fire risk area.

Client: ATP Group Partnership, Essex.

Food processing factories belonging to Northern Foods PLC

Recommendations for upgrading the fire performance of insulated sandwich panels.

Client: Technical Services, Northern Foods PLC, Nottingham

Industrial Fire Consultancy

Metal fabrication factory in North Yorks

I carried out a fire risk assessment of the building with particular reference to the combustible linings present, and gave recommendations for remedial work.

Client: via an Insurance Broker.

Thompson's Mill, Belfast

Advice on dust explosion hazard, explosion relief and fire resistance requirements at high level bearing in mind close proximity of GPO building.

Client: Ministry of Finance, Northern Ireland

British Leyland Aluminium Foundry.

Advice on fire protection of unprotected steel crane runway beams attached to protected steelwork.

Client: White Young and Partners, Leeds.

Clayhill Industrial Estate, Woodford Green.

Assessment of need to fire protect wind bracing in portal framed building.

Client: Clarke Nicholls and Marcel, Hammersmith, London, 1982.

Orbit framed structure.

Assessment of proposed Class Relaxation.

Client: Scottish Development Department, Edinburgh.

Unit No. 10, Stadium Estate, Luton.

Advice on fire wall separating office from warehouse in portal framed building.

Client: Van der Beek, Consulting Engineers, Ashford.

Steel portal frames.

Advice on how an external wall on or near a site boundary can achieve sufficient fire resistance such that it remains sensibly vertical to act as a heat shield to neighbouring property.

Client: Building Control and steel designers, 1976 onwards

Unknown project,

Advice on the behaviour in fire of a compartment wall not coincident with columns supporting roof trusses.

Client: John Pryke and Partners, Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers, Waltham Abbey, 1996

Crown Moran hotel, Cricklewood, North London.

This well-known Inn is being converted and enlarged to include hotel accommodation with an atrium, a swimming pool and underground car park. Acted as fire consultant to Building Control Department to check fire safety strategy, smoke control measures, construction and commissioning of this £25m infill development in a lively urban environment, due for completion early in 2004. Responsible for giving some guidance on fire matters, checking means of escape, compartmentation, fire detection and alarms, emergency lighting and signage, cause and effect schedules, witnessing commissioning tests and verifying practical completion in terms of fire safety. Architect: Capital Architecture Ltd, Colindale, London

Client: Building Control Department, London Borough of Barnet.

Queens hotel, Hastings.

I gave advice on remedies to unventilated lobbies to refuse stores on means of escape stairs in this impressive 5-storey sea front Victorian hotel being converted into luxury apartments. The remedies were made difficult since the building is conserved and new openings in the façade are not allowed. After exploring many options, my preferred solution employed a fire rated fan and extract ducting to an ‘invisible’ vent flap in the external wall opened by a linear actuator on smoke detection.

Client: We make it happen, Hastings

Four Seasons hotel, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

I was appointed by An Bord Pleanala a) to give an opinion as to whether or not new information provided by the Applicant (information not available to the Board's previous adviser when he advised that the appeal be dismissed) was of a substantive kind which warranted a reconsideration and possibly a change of decision, and b) to make a recommendation to the Board. The appeal concerned the means of escape from inner bedrooms and the use of fast-response sprinklers and an enhanced fire detection and alarm system as compensating features. My work required an interpertation of tenability data from residential sprinkler tests undertaken by BRE - the so-called West Yorkshire tests - on two identical maisonettes.

Client: An Bord Pleanala ( Planning Appeals Board), Dublin

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

With a colleague in FRS I made an assessment of the smoke control proposed for atria.

Client: Department of Health, 1989.

Health Care Centre, Athy, Co Kildare, Republic of Ireland.

I acted as arbitrator and reported on the fire safety strategy, especially the smoke management, of the 2-storey building containing an atrium.

Client: An Bord Pleanala ( Planning Appeals Board), Dublin, 1997

University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff.

I colaborated with others in FRS to make a site survey to establish possible routes of fire and smoke spread in the basement areas.

Client: South Glamorgan Health Authority

New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton

Advice on fire safety strategy involving consideration of structure, means of escape, fire detection and fire fighting facilities for the proposed Medical Records Department. I have used this project as the basis for one of my papers on fire safety engineering. See Publications

Client: Pickavance Associates, Architects, Stafford

Health Care Centre, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland

Arbitration report on the fire safety strategy, especially the smoke management, of 2-storey atrium building

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Client: An Bord Pleanala (Planning Appeals Board), Dublin

St Lukes Woodside Hospital, Highgate

Advice on fire precautions in single storey accommodation used mainly for housing drug addicts.

Client: District Fire Officer, Middlesex Hospital, London

Strathedon Hospital, Fife.

Advice on shut down of air conditioning systems.

Client: Fife Health Board, 1977

Nuffield Hospital, Tettenhall.

Assessment of stability of steelwork in operating theatre.

Client: Environmental and Technical Services Department, Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton, 1978.

Central Science Laboratory complex, Sand Hutton, York

Preparation of fire risk report and audit of recommendations of fire safety consultants retained by main contractor and specialist subcontractor to carry out remedial work to intumescent protected steelwork in buildings.

Client: Symonds Ltd on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food

Central Science Laboratory complex, Sand Hutton, York.

Review of the implications of decommissioning fire dampers in air supply and extract ductwork.

Client: Symonds Projects on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, 1997

2-level car park at Milton Park, Abingdon

I gave an independent opinion on the fire consultant’s design fire and calculations of thermal radiation for the car park which was near a site boundary. I made additional calculations from first principles to show that the car park was at a safe distance from the adjoining building.

Client:Vale of White Horse District Council, Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

Pydor Road multi-storey car park.

Assessment of fire hazard of teak palings.

Client: Building Control, Truro, Cornwall, 1985.

London Underground LTD escalator/travelator chambers, London

Following the Kings Cross fire disaster and the replacement of much combustible content, LUL wished to have an independent opinion on the appropriateness of its fire suppression system installed under escaltors. After making a survey of several stations I made calculations of fire load and made recommendations for revised sprinkler coverage for modern installations

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Client: Kingfell Fire Protection Ltd, London

Underground Station Lift Replacement, London

Assessment of possible structural failure of lift support structure and fire hazards (Bank, Tufnell Park and Chalk Farm Stations).

Client: London Transport

Birmingham International Airport Terminal building.

Assessment of use of unprotected steelwork based on a fire safety engineering study made by British Steel Corporation.

Client: DOE Building Regulations Division, 1981.

Road tunnels.

Assessment of amount of fire resistance needed.

Client: Tunnels Engineering Branch of Department of Transport, London, 1980

Broadwater Bridge, Worthing.

Assessment of fire damage to prestressed concrete T-beams, proposals for tests, and recommendations.

Client: West Sussex Engineering Consultancy, 1997

Brighton Marina, Brighton.

Assessment of potential threat of fire to users and inhabitants of the residential/office accommodation on the floating platforms.

Client: The Louis de Saissons Partnership, London

Seajet Terminal, Brighton Marina.

Assessment of fire resistance of glazed wall possibly subject to a fire in a Jetfoil craft 5 metres away.

Client: Dennis Lennon and Partners, London

Broadwater Bridge, Worthing

Assessment of fire damage to prestressed concrete T-beams, proposals for tests and recommendations. This unusual job was important as the road was a busy A-route and traffic had to be restricted until I had made my report.

Client: West Sussex Engineering Consultancy

Rosyth Shipyard, Ministry of Defence, Glasgow

Site survey and assessment of fire resistance of fire wall containing complex composite steel stanchions.

Client: Comprehensive Design, Glasgow

Donnington Warehouse for storage of strategic defence supplies, Donnington.

Survey of buildings and advice on design of fire walls in the rebuilt building following the £165 million fire in 1983.

Client: Ministry of Defence

Fire Resistance Assessment Fire Consultancy

4hr sandwich panel fire wall for Iron Mountain document storage warehouse

I was asked to give expert advice on a proposed fire wall 24m high by 80m wide in a 200m long document storage warehouse. The fire wall was of unusual design as it comprised two independent cantilever walls each possessing 4hr fire resistance through the use of 4hr rated structural sandwich panels with steel faces and non-combustible rockwool cores fixed to rolled steel I-section cantilever columns. I gave advice in several areas: scrutinising and commenting on the test laboratory's fire resistance test report; researching the FM and NFPA221 guidance on fire walls; making calculations of incident thermal radiation intensity arising from flames above the top of the fire wall and commenting on the effect this would have on the adjoining roof; quantifying the magnitude of thermal bow in the 24m high cantilever columns; commenting on details of supporting fire resisting roller shutters from the sandwich panels; and preparing a fire safety strategy for the design of the fire wall.

Client: Lysander and Associates, Guildford and Toorc Consulting, acting for Iron Mountain - Son of Belvedere

Arbed Construction System

I made a review of documentation on the assessment of fire resistance of Arbed AF composite concrete/steel columns incorporating steel I-sections and reinforcing bars. The assessment was for use in the United Kingdom.

Client: Arbed Recherches, Luxembourg

Assessment of Eurobond 200mm thick PIR-cored sandwich panel assembly spanning 6m horizontally as an external wall and providing one hour fire resistance from the inside

Because of the small size specimen used in the standard furnace fire resistance test (3m by 3m in UK furnaces) it is necessary for a qualified fire engineer to make an assessment for end-use applications appreciably larger than the size tested. It is vital to take account of increased thermal bowing (which can be and was calculated) and increased dead load which is transferred to the unexposed steel face assembly after delamination of the fire exposed face. Both these effects are capable of causing loss of fire integrity in the unexposed steel face, and are both difficult to predict, thus requiring professional engineering judgment.

The performance of a fire separating paneled wall is governed by the integrity and insulation criteria for the unexposed face of the wall. Some factors affecting these performance criteria include:
" Panel support method
" Thickness of panel core
" Density of core
" Overlap of steel joint in panel edge
" Span of panel
" Thickness of steel faces
" Number, diameter and type of panel-end fastenings
" Location of panel fasteners relative to panel ends

I made the assessment using the results of two fire resistance tests on the PIR-cored panels together with the results of an ad hoc fire test on a 10m by 9m assembly of sandwich panels which had rock wool cores, and was able to show that one hour fire resistance was possible, subject to several conditions

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Client: Advanced Thermal Composites Ltd, Burtonwood, Cheshire.

Buildings using Sodra prefabricated fire resisting timber floor units.

Sodra is a major manufacturer in Sweden of timber floors for houses and wishes to market in the UK. The unique construction with the ceiling mounted on joists independent of the structural floor joists gives high levels of sound insulation. The floor has been subjected to a fire resistance test in the accredited laboratories of the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute (SP) in Boras. I reviewed the test data and test reports supplied and, after consideration of all the relevant parameters, I made a detailed assessment showing that the floor, if tested in the UK, would be expected to achieve the required fire resistance (at least 60 minutes for stability, integrity and insulation in teh BS 476 fire test). This meant that the client did not need to have an expensive retest

Client: Sodra Building Systems AB, Skogssudden, SE-351 89, Vaxjo, Sweden

2-Storey sandwich panel Gazebo.

The brief from my boss was to find a way of using sheet steel strucurally in builidngs (most was used non-structurally). I developed the concept of this experimental frameless building featuring interconnecting sheet steel faced sandwich panels with rigid polyurethane foam cores. The panels were load-bearing and connected at their corners. I designed a heated daylight press to facilitate pressure-filling of the hollow steel panels with foam. ICI kindly provide a Mk 3 Viking gun for dispensing the polyurethane foam and Dunlop Rubber Company generously extruded neoprene window seals to my design. The building was featured on TV. Later work showed that getting acceptable fire resistance would be a problem.

Client: British Iron and Steel Research Association (BISRA), Swansea

Development of an electric cooking hob to prevent chip-pan fire.

For many years chip-pan fires have been the cause of disfiguring injuries and deaths and damage to property, and the government recognizes this in campaigns to reduce them. There are approximately 4000 accidents and 130 deaths caused by chip-pan fires in the UK reported by the fire service each year and these casualty statistics do not include fires not attended by the fire service. Such a fire, which can be a frightening phenomenon, can be made far worse if water is thrown onto it in an attempt to extinguish.

My innovative project arose from problems in a hostel installation described separately. 80 electric 2-hotplate hobs already installed in the hostel could potentially cause dangerous chip-pan fires. The hobs were controlled with energy regulators (as with all electric hobs in the UK I found to my surprise) and if left switched on at maximum setting would cause fat to overheat and catch fire. My solution was to change the control to thermostatic control so that however long the hob was powered the fat would not overheat. After much research on fat fires, auto ignition and sustainable hot surface temperature data, and optimum location of thermostats, a series of confirmatory fire tests was made. The tests were witnessed by the approving authorities (building control, fire authority, environmental health and housing officers) and the hobs have been approved for use in the hostel as part of a fire risk assessment package. The work was successfully completed in collaboration with Destech UK

For further information see article in 'My fire publications' section of website

Client: hostel owner

A major chocoate manufacturer in the Midlands.

I was asked to give an expert professional opinion on whether or not a professional building designer should have been aware of a possible difficulty in insuring his client's building because it contained sandwich panels with combustible plastic foam cores (expanded polystyrene) regarded as a fire risk by many insurers. I surveyed the building, reviewed the guidance literature in the public domain available to a designer at the time of design, and made my report to the bulding owner.

Client: Confidential

Three-storey prestigious new office complex, Newport, South Wales.

I was asked to give an expert professional opinion on the insurability of the building which originally contained composite panels with plastic foam cores (wall panels had expanded polystyrene (EPS) cores and the roof panels had polyurethane foam (PUR) cores. These panels were replaced with panels having non-combustible cores of mineral wool, leading to delays in project completion and added costs. The client wanted to know if the designer/specifier of the original panels should have been aware of a possible difficulty in getting insurance cover so that a change to a panel construction acceptable to the insurer could have been made at an earlier stage. I prepared a detailed report.

Client: Broadhall Hampton Ltd

Walkers Midshire Foods Ltd, Leicester

I made a Formal fire risk assessment under the Workplace regulations of three adjacent sites involving 100 rooms,engaged in seasoning, sausage production, and processing ham.The concept of the premises employs 'boxes' of temperature and hygeine controlled sandwich panel construction erected inside the normal fabric of the buildings. The main fire hazards were electrical risks and arson. Suggestions for improvements were made.

Client: Samworth Group

Various manufacturers. Advice on product development to several panel/core manufacturers in the UK , Finland, and New Zealand.

Code Drafting Fire Consultancy

Drafting DD 240 Fire Safety Engineering. One of a small group contracted by DTI to develope this standard, the first UK standard on fire safety engineering.

Broadgate Phase 8, City of London

Assessment with other members of Steel Construction Industry Forum of the implications for steel structures following the major fire.

Client: Stanhope

Preparation of a draft code of practice for fire protection of steel in Brazil.

Client: UNIDO.(written with Malhota H L)

Fire Wall Fire Consultancy