|
 |
| |
RADAR
FEATURES
COMMENT
| |
| | | |
 |
| |
| |
|
| | PRACTICE FIRE SAFETY ENGINEERING
| Over the last decade fire safety engineering has emerged
as a distinct discipline. Fire engineers Tony O’Meagher
and Leong Poon, of Meinhardt Fire Performance Group,
outline the principles and potential. |
|
National@
Docklands, by Bligh
Voller Nield. The atria
are possible due to fire
safety engineering by
Arup Fire.
|
St Kilda Sea
Baths, the City of
Port Phillip. Fire
safety engineering
allowed fire separation
between different
occupancies to be
rationalized.
|
|
|
Fire safety engineering is a relatively recent discipline. It enables design
innovations not normally permitted by building codes, thereby offering
the opportunity to enhance the functionality of buildings. Fire safety
engineering emerged as a design discipline following the introduction of
a performance-based format of the 1996 edition of the Building Code of
Australia (BCA). Prior to this, buildings were typically designed in accordance
with the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) Provisions of the BCA, limiting building
functionality and resulting in less innovative and less economical designs.
Fire safety engineering takes a fundamental approach in its derivation
of design solutions – that is, building designs are directly assessed according
to their performance in relation to the effects of fire. This means that the
limits on form and function imposed by building code requirements may be
exceeded where it can be demonstrated that the level of fire safety achieved
meets the performance requirements of the code. As a result, current fire
safety engineering practice relies heavily on engineering judgment and the
application of relatively recent research information. Therefore fire safety
engineers often require specialist knowledge in particular areas of fire safety
to achieve a satisfactorily robust building design.
Two fundamental variables that most influence the determination of fire
and life safety requirements are fire behaviour and occupant characteristics.
Full-scale fire tests, such as those conducted by BHP Research, and actual fires
in buildings have both contributed to an understanding of the performance
of buildings in fire and enabled effective and practical design methods to
be developed. A good understanding of the behavioural characteristics of
occupants in a fire emergency enables more effective design of the egress
requirements.
GENERAL BENEFITS
The benefits for building layout and design associated with fire safety
engineering are significant, particularly on larger, more complex projects.
The primary advantages are more flexibility in building functionality and
often more economical building design outcomes. Fire safety engineering
can also address property protection, providing a higher level of protection
than is offered by the DtS Provisions of the BCA. In complex or iconic
projects – where there is a need to achieve an enhanced level of fire safety
– fire engineering allows a comprehensive risk-based approach to be used to
determine a cost-effective means of achieving the required level of fire safety.
The key benefits of fulfilling building fire safety requirements using fire
engineering are summarized in the table to the right.
|
|
PROJECT-SPECIFIC BENEFITS
The benefits of fire safety engineering have been demonstrated
in a number of major projects, both in Australia and overseas,
which the authors have assessed using fire engineering methods.
The benefits achieved on these projects include:
|
|
|
BHP Billiton, Melbourne
28-storey office building, Lyons Architects.
• Unprotected steel floor beams were adopted on all above-ground
floors, enabling faster construction times and significant cost reductions.
• A tenancy stair, without fire separation, directly connects three levels
of the offices. This enhances the interaction between levels and the business
operations of the tenants.
|
|
|
Ian Potter Gallery,
Federation Square, Melbourne
Lab Architecture + Bates Smart.
• Unprotected steel trusses adopted on all levels above ground, which
resulted in cost reductions and facilitated the construction process.
|
|
|
140 William Street, Melbourne
40-storey office building, Yuncken Freeman Associates.
• BHP Research conducted a comprehensive fire risk assessment,
complemented by a series of full-scale fi re tests, to support the use
of unprotected steel floor beams in this refurbished building.
This project set a precedent for the use of unprotected steel through
the application of performance-based fi re engineering techniques.
|
|
|
Singapore National Library Building
Two 16-storey towers, Llewelyn Davies Yeang.
• Unprotected steel was used for more than 80% of the floor beams.
This facilitated construction and enabled construction costs to be reduced.
• The assessment also allowed unprotected steel members in the external
high-level bridges that link the two towers.
|
|
|
Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart
Former factory converted to a hotel, Morris Nunn + Associates.
• Historic timber trusses were analysed for fire. This allowed the
original timber members to be retained, thereby providing a unique
character for the hotel.
|
|
Swiss Re Insurance Offices, London
Foster and Associates.
• The fire-resistance level was reduced from 120 minutes to 90 minutes
for the floor beams (60 minutes for minor beams) and 60 minutes for the
external exposed steel frame. This allowed the fire protection to be applied
off-site, with significant reductions in cost and construction time.
|
|
|
Hillsong Religious Facility
Architectus (Sydney).
• The required level of fire safety for the proposed facility was achieved
through specific analysis and design of the egress provisions to cater for
the large number of occupants and the rationalization of the smoke
management system.
|
| SUMMARY |
Fire safety engineering uses a performance-based approach to achieve building
solutions which comply with the BCA requirements, enabling fi re engineering
assessments to be undertaken at a more fundamental level. Fire behaviour and
occupant characteristics are two key fundamental variables affecting the
determination of a robust design for fire and life safety. Property protection
can also be addressed and for complex or iconic projects, a risk-based
approach can be used to determine a cost-effective outcome.
The key benefits of undertaking fire engineering on building projects include:
• Economy – cost savings from rationalization of the fire safety provisions.
For example, reductions in structural fi re protection and smoke exhaust.
• Time – reductions in construction time when some fire safety measures,
such as applied fi re protection for steel members, are reduced or removed.
• Functionality – designs that are not permitted or are impractical under the
DtS Provisions of the BCA can be realized. For example, the connection of
more than two levels with a non-fire-separated stair in a multistorey building.
• Maintenance – may be reduced. For example, where the requirement for smoke
exhaust systems is removed or reduced. Alternatively, specific maintenance
measures can be implemented for fi re safety measures that are critical to the design.
Dr Tony O’Meagher is a senior fire engineer and Dr Leong Poon is National
Manager, Fire Performance Engineering, with Meinhardt Consulting Engineers.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Meinhardt Fire Performance Group
Leong Poon, National Manager,
Fire Performance Engineering
T 03 8676 1260
E leong@vic.meinhardt.com.au
W www.meinhardt.com.au
Society of Fire Safety – Engineers Australia
Established to foster excellence in fi re safety
in Australia, the society aims to draw together
individuals who are actively engaged in fi re
safety, to provide a national focus and leadership
for the development, understanding, practice
and application of fi re safety engineering to
achieve reductions of risk for life, property and
environmental damage and the implementation
of cost-effective fi re safety codes and regulations.
E info@sfs.au.com | W www.sfs.au.com
Fire Protection Association Australia
Australia’s major technical and educational fi re
safety organization aims to achieve continual
improvement in fire safety through active
membership and a range of activities.
T 1300 731 922 | F 03 9890 1577
E fpaa@fpaa.com.au | W www.fpaa.com.au
The Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment
Formed in 2002 to promote the value of balanced
fi re protection design in the built environment.
The alliance encourages the development and free
dissemination of codes of practices, industry best
practice guidelines, technical guidance notes and
technical papers relating to the balanced approach
to fi re protection design in the built environment.
T 02 9416 0451 | F 02 9416 0452
E info@pfpa.com.au | W www.pfpa.com.au
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The Fire Research Division of this American
non-regulatory federal agency develops, verifies
and utilizes measurements and predictive
methods to quantify the behaviour of fire
and the means to reduce the impact of fire
on people, property and the environment.
E william.grosshandler@nist.gov
W www.nist.gov
|
|
IMAGE CREDITS
1,3,7,8,9
Meinhardt.
2,5 John Gollings.
4,6 Trevor Mein.
10,11 Llewelyn
Davies Yeang.
12 Henry Jones
Art Hotel.
13 Ben Vos.
14 Peter Whyte.
15 Architectus.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2010 Architecture Media Pty Ltd
|
|
|
|
