AN ICONIC AND POPULAR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS, THE LANDMARK AT BRIERLEY HILL, IS USING SMOKE CONTROL SYSTEMS FROM SE CONTROLS TO ENSURE ESCAPE ROUTES ARE KEPT FREE OF SMOKE IN THE EVENT OF A FIRE, ALLOWING RESIDENTS TO EXIT THE BUILDING SAFELY.
Located at the Waterfront complex adjacent to the Merry Hill retail centre in Dudley, The Landmark was formerly the HQ for a financial services company before being acquired by investment property developer, Seven Capital, who converted it into 181 apartments with Colmore Tang Construction, all of which were sold off-plan within five months.
As the travel distance from some of the apartments to the building’s five existing escape stairs was more than the maximum 7.5 metres allowable for code compliant naturally ventilated smoke control system within Building Regulations Approved Document B, SE Controls designed and installed four individual smoke ventilation solutions. Each of these was based on the specific requirements of each floor within the building and combines both mechanical fan and natural smoke extraction.
The ground and first two levels have the largest floor areas and highest density of apartments, so an SE Controls SHEVTEC Extended Travel Distance mechanical fan system was installed to protect the corridors and three of the stairwells where apartments are located more than 7.5 metres from the escape stairs.
On the second, third and fourth floors, supplementary automatic opening vents (AOV) are provided to ensure additional stairwells and corridors are kept free of smoke to aid escape from apartments located within 7.5 metres of the stairs.
A further naturally ventilated system is used on floors five and six. These have the smallest floor area, but additional dedicated escape stairs, which are protected by AOV louvres at the head of stairs. The main escape route in the seven-storey section of the building is also protected by a naturally ventilated smoke system, which covers all the floors.
