The conversion of a historic Department Store building in London into a modern HQ office for architectural practice Squire and Partners was a complex and challenging project. However, the fire engineering team found innovative solutions to achieve exactly what was required.

Automatic doors generally fulfil various functions in building construction. This article will focus on how they can be controlled and monitored ­centrally and what possibilities are offered by modern building automation that ­incorporates all different disciplines.

When it comes to fire prevention, Preferred Freezer Services, a US provider of frozen goods logistics for the food industry, focuses on risk minimization rather than loss adjustment. The fire prevention system installed in Preferred Freezer Services’ freezer facility lowers the air’s oxygen concentration in the warehouse under the concentration that fire needs to break out.

This article describes the applications and impact of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with special focus on passive and active fire protection as well as firefighting.

The new University of Economics and Business in Vienna was previously located in a building in need of renovation from the 1970s, which gave those in charge of the university the opportunity to build a new campus. The new Library and Learning Center is the heart of this facility. It was designed by the renowned architect Zaha Hadid and presented those involved in its realisation with some construction challenges. One of these was fire prevention.

The article describes the fire protection concept for the four-masted steel barque Passat, which has been moored in the Priwall Harbour in Lübeck-Travemünde (Germany) since 1960. The ship is not legally considered to be a structural facility – yet cannot be handled in accordance with the normal regulations for maritime navigation because it is used in a fixed location. Accordingly, the planning work required lots of safety goal-oriented special solutions.

The establishment of operational fire safety regulations at GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Dresden, a provider of manufacturing and technology services for semiconductor products, represented a challenge due to the large cleanroom area of around 52,000 m². This article focuses on the permissible particle emissions which represent the framework conditions for designing all processes for the maintenance and inspection of the fire protection facilities.

The networking of technical safety systems with one another and with building technology delivers numerous advantages above all in large buildings and industrial complexes. However, it also brings with it significant risks. Until uniformly applicable standards and regulations exist, planners and installers should implement networked solutions with the greatest of care.

Fabric fire protection solutions offer effective protection against the uncontrolled spread of fire and smoke. At the same time, they enable a great degree of flexibility in their installation and design – not least because of the range of available variants which has now grown more and more diverse.