Coopers Fire was approached in 2013 to support multiple Architects and Fire Engineers to work through the difficult interface designs on the historic Battersea building that posed multiple challenges in incorporating smoke and fire strategies whilst maintaining the legacy build design.

This was a great opportunity to once again put forward the innovative solutions that have attracted Architects to Coopers Fire on many occasions previously.

These challenges followed with the introduction of bespoke curtain systems stretching the designs beyond the norm. There was also a need to carry out support testing to validate their capability and to offer comfort to the stakeholders.

Coopers Fire offered continual support to the key stakeholders including the Architect and Fire Engineer community, giving them confidence in ongoing collaboration with Coopers Fire for future projects.

The Coopers Fire product design and interfacing, complete with valid specifications, went a long way to assist a Contractors partnership decision in supplying and installing the finished product whilst enabling live design changes with the aligned Architect engaged on the project.

• The project required FireMaster® Concertina curtains 25m width and 12m in height of straight sections, with an integrity rating of 30 minutes.
• The Coopers Fire Concertina product portfolio allowed for 12m width and 8m height of straight length sections so the product needed re-designing and bespoke engineering to suit the requirements of the project.
• A specimen of the engineered solution was tested at an accredited fire testing lab. The specimen achieved 66 minutes integrity rating, without failure.
• The combined engineering design, testing and fire test data allowed Coopers Fire to meet the requirements of supplying a 25m wide and 12m high Firemaster® Open Concertina fire curtain.

One major challenge of the large Concertina products was installation. The 12m drop Concertina fire curtains were installed successfully on site using a combination of scaffolding and mobile platforms and at some points with minimal headspace to work within.

The Concertinas were so long that onsite redesign and engineering were required to ensure the bottom tray engaged perfectly with the headbox.

The Concertina retaining guides were also so long they required onsite welding. A further four levels below the curtain drop, meant that total installation height was higher than 12 metres from the ground spanning over the voids either side of the bridge below.

The Coopers Fire production and installation teams collaborated to manufacture the individual parts of the Concertina fabric off site to ensure the programme of installation was kept on time.

Coopers Fire installed:

• 47 x Vertical fire curtains
• 7 x Concertina curtains
• 32 x Vertical smoke curtains

The team used for the Concertina installation specialise in this product and were able to overcome onsite challenges to ensure the huge Concertina fire curtains operated as expected and deployed effectively.