Kilburn Square Estate is located in the London Borough of Brent, and comprises a 17-storey tower block built in the late 1960s and four low-rise buildings of six and seven floors.
Wates was appointed as project manager for the total refurbishment of the tower. This covered improvements to the internal and external fabric of the building, new mechanical, electrical and plumbing services, as well as a number of key fire safety and protection improvements.
The tower accommodates 90 homes. All residents continued to live in the building during the refurbishment.
Project details
In relation to fire safety and prevention the strategy is “Stay Put” so the system has been designed around this. In the event of a fire an alert is registered at the main fire alarm panel in the entrance lobby and relayed directly to a 24-hour manned fire monitoring station, which will contact the fire brigade. On arrival the fire services will have the option to activate the new EAS (Evacuation Alert System) with fire sounders in the hallway of each dwelling to alert the occupancy on each floor individually to initiate a phased evacuation of the building.
Key project deliverables
Fire risk assessment. A full survey was undertaken in every flat and all the communal area to ensure the required fire compartmentation was achieved in line with the building fire strategy and fire risk assessments.
Sprinkler Automatic Fire Suppression System (AFSS). Complete replacement of existing in all communal areas and in every flat.
Electrical consumer units in each flat. Upgrade included installation of Arc Fault Detection Devices (AFDDs) rather than normal circuit breakers, with the objective of minimising the risk of fire.
Communal area lighting. Replace existing with new smart LED lighting with integral emergency lighting that both adjusts to daylight conditions and occupancy providing safe adequate lighting in all conditions.
Replace fire alarms inside flats. Installation of D2 stand-alone, mainspowered detectors with an integral standby supply for all living spaces and hallway storage.
Automatic fire detection system to communal landings and lobbies. System designed to ensure that fire and smoke in the escape routes of the high-rise building is quickly detected, operating the automatic smoke extract ventilation systems.
New communal fire alarm system. To be installed throughout the building interfacing with each landing/floor sprinkler flow switches and automatic opening ventilation (AOV) system.
Refurbishment of the two existing lifts with a new fireman’s lift and a standard passenger lift. Included replacement of outdated equipment, car and landing doors, lift shaft lighting, and the installation of fireman controls and comms and a back-up power supply.
Communal smoke ventilation and clearance system. Building fabric improvements meant the existing corridor and stairwell smoke ventilation system needed upgrading. Using computation fluid dynamics three options were investigated resulting a decision to replace existing AOVs (achieving 1.5m2 total per floor) and installing a new 1m2 AOV at the head of the stairs.
“From the outset, this project was always about the people in the building. Yes, we had to ensure a technically outstanding project was delivered, but with over 250 residents at the heart of it, we needed to make sure they were safe and secure at all times. This meant the introduction of a sophisticated resident engagement strategy to ensure everyone was properly communicated with and they all had their concerns listened to and their needs taken into account.”
