Fire protection solutions have improved over time, but safety measures are still critical in the design and construction of business parks, office buildings, and manufacturing spaces.
When architects design the McKinney National Business Park in Texas, they took steps to protect the two 75,000-square-foot buildings with automatic smoke vents from BILCO. Smoke vents protect property and firefighters in bringing a fire under control by removing heat, smoke and gases from a burning building. The business park project included the installation of 8 smoke vents on each of the buildings.
BILCO’s smoke vents protect property and aid firefighters in bringing a fire under control by removing smoke, heat, and gases from a burning building. (Photo courtesy of BILCO)
Welcome Addition
The business park in McKinney is a welcome addition to the fast-growing community. Located about 30 miles north of Dallas, the community’s population has swelled to nearly 200,000 residents. Just 15,000 people called McKinney home in 1970, and as recently as 1990 the Texas town had only slightly more than 21,000 residents. McKinney is ranked as the fourth-fastest growing city nationally since 2010, and the population rocked up by 203 percent between 2000 and 2018, according to a report from Orion Investment Real Estate.
Many of those new residents can expect to find jobs at the business park, which can accommodate more than 1 million square feet of industrial space. The park is adjacent to McKinney National Airport and more than 62 acres of adjacent land could also be added to the business park.
“In this deal, it was all about location and timing,” Craig Phelps, a senior associate at Jones Lang LaSalle real estate company said in an interview with the CoStar News. “There has been a lot of success with industrial real estate in Dallas, and developers are looking for that next development spot. McKinney made a lot of sense because there’s demand for last-mile distribution, and this is where the population is located.”
Protecting Lives & Property
The smoke vents measure 6-feet by 6-feet and are activated upon the melting of a fusible link. The size and number of smoke vents on each project are determined by community fire codes. BILCO’s double leaf automatic smoke vents are the most economical way to add fire venting protection in large areas such as warehouses or manufacturing facilities.
Vents are essential for workers and building owners. According to the National Fire Protection Association, municipal fire departments responded to 37,910 fires at facilities between 2011-2015. Those fires resulted in $1.2 billion in direct property damage, 16 civilian deaths and 273 civilian injuries.
The vents were installed by Sun Commercial Roofs of Dallas. Vicky Kimball of Blue Sky Sales procured the vents for the roofing contractor. Alston Construction served as the general contractor on the project, and Goulas& Associates served as the architects.
“The architect specified the smoke vents and we go by the specifications that they provided to us,” said Terry Marquis of Sun Commercial Roof.
Hopefully, the new businesses in the office park will never face the threat of a fire emergency, but building owners can take some measure of comfort knowing smoke vents can help offer protection of lives and property.
Photos courtesy of BILCO.
The BILCO Company
1-800-366-6530
www.bilco.com
commercial@bilco.com
