Sprinkler Systems
A pole in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna combining sprinkler and emergency lighting.
Owners and occupiers of listed buildings are encouraged by heritage organisations to improve their fire protection and fire prevention measures. Such measures can reduce the number and severity of accidental fires that have destroyed some of our best loved historic buildings over the years.
In some situations the most effective form of protection may be an automatic suppression system delivering water via sprinkler heads which are activated by the heat of a fire. However, the provision of suppression systems in heritage buildings is an emotive subject, with enthusiasts calling for all heritage buildings to be fitted, and opponents horrified about introducing a flood risk.
There may be a large choice of fire safety solutions available to improve the fire performance of a building, which is how it will behave when it catches fire. When making decisions, the following questions should be considered:
What factors pose the biggest threats to a building when it catches fire?
Can these threats be reduced to an acceptable level that does not involve any upgrading, such as reducing the fire load, or changing to a lower risk activity?
If improvements are necessary, are they designed to minimise or avoid harm to the things which make the historic building special?
Will the improvements be effective, for instance, a fire alarm not linked to an alarm receiving centre will not provide any protection when the building is unoccupied.
Will the improvements be affordable and if not is there a more cost effective alternative?
Will any improvements, particularly passive measures such as upgrading the fire compartments be robust enough to withstand the passage of time as well as attack by fire?
Is the level of proposed improvements commensurate with the risk?
Sprinkler systems in historic buildings should be designed with great care to fully respect the historic building fabric. This means each system will have to be precisely engineered in order to be acceptable, both in terms of avoiding unnecessary damage and also in terms of its appearance. A sympathetic approach to fitting this modern technology can be seen at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, where all services are contained in a pole (image above). These include an electrical socket, emergency light, speaker and sprinkler head.
The reason for fitting a suppression system must be well understood, so that the protection afforded is as expected by the designer. A sympathetic approach is required and as with all issues connected with fire protection, the key is understanding the risks.
When considering the provision of sprinkler protection in a building it should be remembered that, while sprinklers are very effective at controlling fires, they will have no influence over whether or not ignition takes place. The presence of sprinkler protection does not eliminate the need for preventative measures to reduce the risk of fire occurring in the first place.