Multi Zone Smoke & Comfort Ventilation, Cedar Hall, London

Introduction

Under the challenging economic climate of 2021 & 2022 Rocburn were tasked with specifying & supplying the smoke & comfort ventilation system for an extension project providing new student accommodation in Tooting (South London). This scheme comprised of an additional 30 student rooms in time for students to occupy before the term start date of September 2022.

We worked with the main contractor to ensure all vents & controls provided were fully compliant and UKCA/CE marked with the relevant product standard (BS: EN12101-2 for smoke vents & BS: EN12101-10 for controls).

Building Layout

Cedar hall was built up of 7 separate smoke zones. These consisted of 1 enclosed communal staircase and 6 adjacent lobbies.

In the main stairwell we recommended that the main building contractor made a 1050×1050 flat roof level opening to install a Mardome smoke vent which would provide 1m2 free vent area in line with the requirement for stairwell smoke ventilation set out in Approved Document B.

The 2 top floor lobbies had the challenge of being unable to be vented through the vertical wall so again the main building contractor made 2 roof level openings. This time to allow for each lobby to have a 1050×1650 Mardome flat roof hatch to allow for 1.5m2 free vent area as per the requirement for lobby smoke ventilation set out in Approved Document B. There were several challenges to overcome in terms of layout to ensure that these roof hatches didn’t clash with the existing Solar PV panels on the roof.

For the remaining 4 lobbies, we were able to provide fully bespoke/custom casement ventilators. Casement ventilators have the appearance of modern aluminium profile windows but are designed and tested to EN12101-2. These were made to suit the contractors existing structural opening measurements and achieved 1.5m2 and with a custom cill pressing/RAL colour to ensure these matched and blended in with other existing windows in the building.

Proposed Solution and Implementation

The client also requested comfort/natural ventilation functionality within the system and opted for temperature control to allow students to cool down the lobby areas in the summer months. We also provided rain + wind sensors to make sure they closed automatically if accidently left open. This was overridden by fire conditions and ensured that the lockout protocol was unaffected.

We also worked with the contractor in finding a solution that meant the vent’s opened partially under comfort control rather than the full opening distance programmed for venting in the event of a fire.

Supplied Items

• 4 x EN12101-2 tested & UKCA/CE Marked Casement Ventilators
• 2 x EN12101-2 tested & UKCA/CE Marked Flat Roof 1050×1650 Hatches/AOV’s
• 1 x EN12101-2 tested & UKCA/CE Marked Flat Roof 1050×1050 Hatch/AOV’s
• 1 x EN12101-10 tested & UKCA/CE Marked Multi Zone Panel with Comfort Controls/Sensors.