10
FEBRUARY 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
ELEGANT
SOLUTION
TO A FIRE
SAFETY
CHALLENGE
The City of London Corporation looks after the
fire safety of 900 properties, including the
Mansion House and the
home and office of the
Lord Mayor of London.
Built in 1739, this spectacular listed building holds a
variety of events including
banquets and conferences.
The Mansion has a warm
and inviting feel, with
unique large gold leaf doo rs
which lead into the dining
room. It is estimated that
50,000 people visit the Mansion House every year.
Terence Short is fire safety
advisor for the City of London Corporation. His role is
to maintain safety for clients
at all times and reduce the
risk of fire. Terence found
that the current fire precautions at the Mansion
House, while effective in
keeping the fire doors
closed, were not practical
for accessibility.
He said: “We needed
the fire doors closed so
they can compartmentalise in case of a fire.
However, there are a lot
of staff at the Mansion
House, with catering
staff often setting up the
dining and banquet rooms.
We installed spring closers,
but we found that it wasn’t
practical. The staff were
propping them open as the
doors were too heavy and
inconvenient.”
A solution was required
to make accessibility easier
but not affect the Mansion’s
elegant decor. Terence said:
“The property is protected
by laws and regulations and
the doors are much higher
than standard sized doors.
We were stuck for a solution
so we asked Fireco.”
The Mansion House holds
600 events a year so the
need for access and safety
was vital. Terence found
Dorgard to be the solution.
Dorgard is a fire door
retainer, which holds fire
doors open in any angle and releases the door
to close when the alarm
sounds. The Dorgards stabilised the great length and
weight of the doors, so they
are safe and easy to keep
open.
Terence said: “We can
control the building a lot
more effectively. There is
easy access for staff as they
can carry out their duties
without the need to prop
open doors, and the property is fully compliant as
Dorgard reduces the risk of
fire spreading through the
building.
“The technical department was fantastic. They
advised on everything to
the floor plates so the door
doesn’t slip. When we test
the alarms, the doors close
every time and it’s a very
easy device to install and
maintain.”
[email protected]
www.fireco.uk
PYROGUARD GOES GLOBAL
Pyroguard, which manufactures fire resistant glass, has been operating successfully
in its core markets of the UK, Benelux and France for more than 20 years.
The question of how to expand to meet wider international demand has been answered with the appointment
of Jose Zaman as Export
Development Manager.
Jose came to Pyroguard with much
experience in the glass and construction markets. His global analysis of
the fire glazing market identified Iberia and the Middle East as key target
markets, with Switzerland, Poland
and India as focus territories.
Pyroguard’s strategic approach
to each country has to be locally
tailored. For example, the Middle
East requires an overseas manufacturer to be registered via the
Ministry of Economics, and sales
to be conducted through a distributor. Jose is working with local
agents to penetrate the markets in
the other countries.
Agents provide up-to-date market
information, making it easier for
Pyroguard to ensure that the product complies with all relevant requirements. They also identify and
tackle local competitors head on,
and report directly to Jose so he is
up-to-date and ready to react.
Pyroguard has also increased activity at global trade shows, exhibiting in Qatar, Paris and Mumbai.
This activity is further helping to
introduce the Pyroguard brand
and quality product to potential
customers globally.
‘400m2 of the Pyroguard T range was
recently delivered to complete the partition
walls for the five-star luxury Vivante Taj Hotel’
Expansion is seeing steady returns. For example, 400m2 of the
Pyroguard T range was recently
delivered to complete the partition walls for the five-star luxury
Vivante Taj Hotel in New Delhi,
India.
Pyroguard, which is independently owned, has the
strapline ‘First in Fire Glass’ and
has a highly developed R&D expertise. It has its own fire testing
laboratory which provides industry-leading glass solutions.
The company’s production
facilities are in Haydock, near
Liverpool, and also in Seingbouse
in the east of France, with direct
sales teams across Europe and a
dedicated export function.
Among the company’s projects is
installation of Pyroguard FD60 at a
hospitality suite at the Silverstone
racing circuit. Specified as vision
panels for fire doors, the slim
7mm profile of Pyroguard FD60
enabled glazing partner Waller
Glazing Services to cut the product on site.
The company also provided fire
glass into timber fire rated screens
at Oxford Academy, which accommodates 1,050 students.
www.pyroguard.eu