Fire Protection

You only have to look at any recently built trading estate, group of offices or major shopping centre to see the way that commercial and industrial building have changed in the last 10 to 15 years.

Whilst such buildings are still very functional and efficient they have progressed from providing the basic minimum of facilities within an almost utilitarian shell to attractive structures that often use traditional materials with a beauty of line that makes them a pleasant place in which to either work or visit.

One thing that has not changed in this time is the danger that fire can and will destroy any building if the design does not accept the risk and minimise the potential dangers.

As the use of steel within buildings has expanded the industry has developed new materials that either enhance the appearance or reduce the cost, or both in some cases.   Methods of sealing penetrations are faster to apply so that costs are reduced and cladding panels that meet insulation and integrity standards as defined in BS 476 have an ever increasing range of finishes.

Sound Proofing

Soundproofing is any means of reducing the intensity of sound with respect to a specified source and receptor. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, using noise barriers to block or absorb the energy of the sound waves, using damping structures such as sound baffles, or using active antinoise sound generators.

Soundproofing affects sound in two different ways: noise reduction and noise absorption. Noise reduction simply blocks the passage of sound waves through the use of distance and intervening objects in the sound path. Noise absorption, on the other hand, operates by transforming the sound wave. Noise absorption involves suppressing echoes, reverberation, resonance and reflection. The damping characteristics of the materials it is made out of are important in noise absorption.