As more students enter the school system each year, designing for fire safety in educational facilities has never been more critical. Fire-rated glazing can be a key part of the solution. With proper specification, it can defend against the spread of fire, resist impact from rambunctious students and transfer natural light into learning areas, which can improve student performance.1
A case in point is the design and development of an egress stairwell in Concord, New Hampshire's Mill Brook Elementary School. To support the school’s vision for developing a multi-use “learning corridor” that brings education beyond the classroom, HMFH Architects designed the fire-rated stairwell to be bright and open, reflecting the playful energy of students. They achieved this goal by pairing Fireframes® Aluminum Series fire-resistant frames with Pilkington Pyrostop® fire-resistant glass, both supplied by Technical Glass Products (TGP).
Rather than the bulky, wrap-around frames often associated with traditional fire-rated framing systems, the Fireframes Aluminum Series fire-rated frames have slender profiles that can be custom wet painted, anodized or powder coated in nearly any color. In this application, the narrow fire-rated frames were powder coated a bright purple to match the interior color scheme—a key aesthetic benefit since learning areas are integrated into public spaces outside student classrooms.
Pilkington Pyrostop fire-resistant glazing allowed the design team to incorporate unrestricted amounts of transparent glazing in the stairwell to improve light transfer. The product also offers fire-ratings of up to two hours, and blocks the transfer of radiant heat, providing essential protection should students need to exit the building during a fire. Pilkington Pyrostop meets the impact requirements of CPSC 16CFR1201 Category I and/or Category II – a critical performance benefit for glass used in busy stairwells.
TGP’s Fireframes Aluminum Series fire-rated frames with Pilkington Pyrostop transparent fire-rated glazing also proved beneficial during the renovation of Johnson & Wales University Center for Physician Assistant Studies. The building’s lack of openness and accessibility to the street was a concern for DBVW Architects during the design phase. “The original main entrance to the building was not handicap accessible and not as grand as we envisioned for Johnson & Wales’ new Physician Assistant Program,” explains Sean Redfern, associate principle for DBVW Architects.
Bright purple fire-rated egress stairwell at Mill Brook Elementary School
For the lobby and stairs to satisfy building codes and successfully work together to create a clear circulation path for students and faculty entering the school, DBVW Architects paired the Fireframes Aluminum Series fire-rated frames with Pilkington Pyrostop transparent fire-rated glazing.
“Together, the thin profile design of TGP’s Fireframes Aluminum Series fire-rated frames and clear Pilkington Pyrostop fire-rated glass helped us achieve the transparency and fire protection we were looking for in the space,” explains Sean Redfern, associate principle for DBVW Architects. “Using fire rated glass for an entire exit stair enclosure isn’t something you see every day. But the openness that TGP’s fire-rated frames and glass created fit well with our design aspirations.”
For more information on how to select first-class glass solutions that can support fire and life safety protection and student wellbeing goals in schools, please visit fireglass.com.
1Sapna Cheryan, Sianna A. Ziegler, Victoria C. Plaut, and Andrew N. Meltzoff. Designing Classrooms to Maximize Student Achievement. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2014
Windows and Classrooms: A Study of Student Performance and the Indoor Environment, a 2003 study conducted by the Heschong Mahone Group.
Technical Glass Products
800.426.0279
800.451.9857 – fax
sales@fireglass.com
www.fireglass.com
Related Stories
| Sep 11, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 3 coverage
Day 3 coverage of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo, taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 10, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 2 coverage
The BD+C editorial team brings you this real-time coverage of day 2 of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 4, 2013
K-12 school design that pays off for students
More and more educators are being influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogy, with its mantra of “environment as the third teacher”—an approach that gives Building Teams a responsibility to pay even closer attention to the special needs of today’s schools.
| Sep 3, 2013
'School in a box' project will place school in San Diego public library
Thinking outside the box, LPA Inc. is designing a school inside a box. With an emphasis on three E’s—Engage, Educate, and Empower—e3 Civic High is now being constructed on the sixth and seventh floors of a public library in downtown San Diego. Library patrons will be able to see into the school via glass elevators, but will not have physical access to the school.
| Aug 30, 2013
Modular classrooms gaining strength with school boards
With budget, space needs, and speed-to-market pressures bearing down on school districts, modular classroom assemblies are often a go-to solution.
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Five projects receive 2013 Educational Facility Design Excellence Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 12, 2013
New York’s first net-zero school will be a sustainability lab for city school system
An elementary school on Staten Island will be the first net-zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast. The school is designed to use half the energy of a typical New York public school. Construction will be completed in 2015.