Industrial Application of Fire Curtains
The designer and architect must always consider a building’s fire safety above its aesthetics. We already know that fire curtains preserve building design, but what about in industrial buildings? Can fire curtains preserve building function?
In an industrial setting, aesthetics are somewhat less important. Industrial buildings are built to be functional, working spaces – more laboratory than studio, more for science than for art. When working to regulations, the compromise commonly faced is sacrificing looks for safety.
In an industrial project, the tradeoff is far less likely to be one of fire safety versus aesthetics – and much more likely to be fire safety versus impeded function.
A non-functional building is a no-go – but so is one built outside of regulation.
How much impact this has on building design will depend on the application that the building will be used for: if it’s intended to be a fireworks factory, then all processes (including day to day staff duties) must be carried out within best practice to reduce risks as much as possible. The fire curtains installed will be those with datasheets that best match the space and application.
When it comes to specific, unusual dimensions and room shapes, fire curtains eliminate compromise: interior spaces can be built as designed, with full fire safety. As an example, exceptionally tall, long or wide facilities are sometimes required for building and storing large or specialist vehicles. Aircraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, construction and earthmoving equipment – all of these require non-standard environments for manufacture.
Installing fire curtains allows the space to be built to any specification – no matter how tall or wide – and still conform to fire safety regulations. This means that manufacturing and industrial work can be carried out unimpeded and in a fully fire-safe environment.
Datasheets
When installing industrial fire curtains, the architect and contractor will examine each of the fire curtain datasheets available to them, selecting the best product for the job based on specifications. The best product for the job is always the one that will deliver the greatest fire safety in that particular application or environment.
Coopers Fire – Fire Curtain Datasheets
At Coopers Fire, our experience and expertise in fire curtains and smoke curtains makes us the world’s top choice for fire safety. Our product datasheets are all available to download – for fire curtains, smoke curtains, ancillaries and controllers. For more information, call us on 02392 454 405 or email info@coopersfire.com.
