CASE STUDY

CREEKSIDEMIXED USE

Billed as a new residential and cultural ‘village’, Creekside is part of the regeneration of Greenwich and comprises 801 apartments within four towers which are connected by anetwork of landscaped waterside parks, paths and public piazzas. The prestigious scheme sits just across the River Thames from Canary Wharf and offers a range of apartments, from studios through to penthouses, all of which provide residents with an open plan layout and basement car parking.

The combination of an architectural design that emphasises light and open atrium spaces, a waterside location, mixed use occupancy and a tall tower structure presented numerous challenges for fire design. The FDS Group was brought on board to utilise the company’s consultancy experience and creative approach to devise a solutions-driven fire strategy, and the contracting arm of the Group was awarded the contract for the fire safety system installation.

The result was a development that stayed true to the architect’s vision whilst delivering the required levels of safety and achieving substantial cost savings for the developer.

The FDS Group’s experience of tall buildings, mixed-use schemes and residential apartments enabled the team to devise a value-engineered strategy that deviated frombuilding regulations requirements. The team then used CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modelling to prove that this innovative approach would be effective in providing sufficient levels of safety.

Our fire consultancy department, FDS Consult addressed the challenges of the scheme by:

• Removing the need for sprinkler systems from the basement car park• Removing the need for sprinkler systems in communal areas• Removing the need for smoke venting systems to car park lobbies• Justifying extended travel distances in car park and residential corridors• Justifying open plan layout to penthouses• Rationalising staircase provisions to the retail unit

On completion of the fire design and justification of the strategy, FDS Consult liaised with the regulatory authorities to achieve all mandatory approvals. Based on the success of the solution provided by FDS Consult, the contracting arm of the Group, Fire Design Solutions, were awarded the contract for the installation works which included the sprinkler systems and smoke venting systems.

To enhance means of escape, the FDS team specified the FS1 Floor Sprinkler System, which utilises the Building Cold Water Services, pumps, tanks and piping up to each floor. A connection with a valve set is provided for the sprinklers at each floor level, prior to the domestic water manifold. FDS connect to this valve set and run the sprinkler main piping down each corridor, tee-ing off into each apartment.

The piping is continued into each apartment and to each of the sprinkler heads which are positioned in accordance with BS9251:2005 and BAFSA Technical Guidance Note 1. When a sprinkler head is activated, water is discharged directly onto the fire. The flow switch on the valve set in the corridor detects the flow of water when a sprinkler is activated and sends a signal to the fire alarm panel to provide notification of an activation and the floor on which it occurred.

The installation resulted in cost benefits for the client including:• Utilising CPVC piping and fittings in the design of the sprinkler system, FDS were to help the client realise substantial savings over the cost of the sprinkler system as a whole• FDS were successful in gaining approval for the design of the “Floor System” which reduced the pipe runs and by using the BCWS water storage, allowed the client increased space in their mechanical riser and plant areas, which realised a further cost saving for the client • The sprinkler requirement has been included in the peak demand requirement for the Building Cold Water Services, therefore no priority demand valves were required, also a further cost saving • Gained approval for the use of the ‘Domestic Classification’ for the design of the sprinklers, thereby reducing the pipe sizes, flow rate and pressure requirements • By using a sprinkler head with an increased throw pattern, FDS were able to reduce the number of sprinkler heads required per apartment The installation of the smoke venting system allowed for:• Extended travel distances which justfied the omission of a staircase• Installing an enhanced mechanical smoke venting system in the car park meant that the installation of a sprinkler system in the car park and communal areas could be avoided• Reducing the space required for smoke shafts, which maximised saleable floor space FDS overcame several issues to ensure the system was installed within the tight programme:• Due to roof terraces the fans had to be installed within the shaft• Following overheating problems on other projects the client chose to introduce a day-to-day ventilation system when the smoke venting was completed• Upon client request for quiet corridors when the system was running, silencers were designed to fit the shaft and the resulting height problem was overcome

STANDARDS THAT ARE FAR FROM STANDARD