One of London’s largest urban regeneration projects will see award-winning smoke ventilation contractor, Fire Design Solutions (FDS), provide a number of its fire safety systems to one of the scheme’s residential developments.
The Morello development is the first phase of a wider £1bn project in the heart of Croydon, South London, which will include improved transport links as well as shopping and leisure facilities. Spanning across four blocks, Morello comprises a total of 297 one, two and three luxury bedroom apartments.
Having been appointed to the project by Menta Redrow Ltd – a joint venture between regeneration specialist Menta and house builder Redrow – FDS will design, install and commission a number of its systems to ensure the development meets all of the required fire safety Building Regulations.
Over the coming months, the smoke ventilation contractor will install mechanical smoke ventilation systems (MSVS) in all four of the development’s blocks. Each 0.5m2 shaft will protect the corridors and common areas by removing smoke in the event of a fire, providing a clear escape route for residents and assisting the fire services.
In order to also maintain comfortable temperatures in the common areas during day-to-day use, FDS will install a chiller system. Connected to the MSVS, the system delivers chilled air into the common areas via the MSVS’s smoke shafts, returning corridors to tenable conditions. The system will also automatically revert to fire safety mode in the event of a fire.
The team at FDS will also install its car park ventilation system to the development’s one level basement car park.
Having carried out Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling, a virtual replica of the car park’s designs that shows how smoke would travel in the event of a fire, FDS was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the car park ventilation system. As well as removing smoke in the event of a fire, the ventilation system exhausts unwanted car pollution thanks to its carbon monoxide detectors.
Speaking on their involvement in the project, Gerard Sheridan, Chairman at FDS said “This is a substantial development in the heart of one of London’s largest regeneration schemes, and the team’s delighted to be involved.
“As well as providing the fire safety systems, we’ll also be carrying out ongoing maintenance for the residential areas and car park to ensure the systems work to their maximum efficiency to provide the highest level of safety for the development’s future occupants.”
FDS started work on the development in October 2015.
