A combination of Promat SUPALUX® and Promat VERMICULUX® boards have been used to add passive fire protection to new premises on the Lancashire Business Park in Leyland, after the original building on the site was destroyed in a major blaze. This highlights Promat’s ability to provide bespoke product combinations designed to satisfy individual project requirements.
The decision was taken to build two large new warehouses whose structural elements would require an extremely high level of passive fire protection. Insurance considerations also required that the new buildings be divided internally into protected zones, by compartment walls which would give up to 4 hours fire protection.
Over 900m2 of Promat VERMICULUX® in 50mm and 55mm thicknesses,
was used to provide protection for the structural steelwork of the new buildings. Promat VERMICULUX® is a lightweight, non-combustible, board which contains vermiculite reinforced with selected fibres and fillers. It is specially designed for steelwork applications and can provide up to 240 minutes fire resistance for structural beams and columns.
“Promat VERMICULUX® is ideally suited to this type of project where steelwork has to have the highest level of protection,” comments Barry Simpson of specialist contractor Archway Building Services who handled the fire protection aspects of the project.
Great care was taken to ensure that the structural steelwork in the new premises would retain its integrity in fire.
The internal partition walls were clad with over 2,860m2 of 12mm Promat SUPALUX® boards. This allows the partitions to deliver up to 4 hours fire protection and provide highly effective internal containment in any future fire.
“Promat SUPALUX® is a high performance board that has been proven on this type of application many times over,” adds Barry Simpson. “It’s strong, and lightweight, but very easy to work and fix, so we knew it was well-suited to this particular project.”
