Fire protection in heritage buildings: Navigating the challenges of adaptive reuse

There are many heritage buildings in Australia, including over 20,000 in New South Wales alone. The best way to preserve heritage buildings is to adapt and reuse them in new and sustainable ways. However, adaptive reuse initiatives have become more complex due to concerns about fire safety, especially considering the increasingly stringent fire performance requirements in the National Construction Code.

Fire protection in heritage buildings: Navigating the challenges of adaptive reuse discusses the challenges of making older buildings, built before current fire safety regulations were set, safe for the general public. Fire safety upgrades are often necessary when undertaking adaptive reuse projects, but it can be challenging to retrofit fire safety measures that do not significantly alter the structure of heritage buildings. To address this problem, the availability of passive fire protection systems that strengthen the resistance of structural steel and elements such as doors, floors, and ceilings without disrupting the historic building fabric is growing.

Recognised worldwide as an innovator of the newest technologies, Promat offers a complete portfolio of passive fire protection solutions, including boards, sprays, intumescents and a number of integrated and effective fire stopping solutions. Their range includes PROMATECT® boards providing protection for walls, floors, ceilings and structural steel; PROMASEAL® sealant, pillows, mortar, backing rods, spray films and strips, fire collars and sleeves; and other specialised lines.

Download this whitepaper to learn about the challenges of making older buildings, built before current fire safety regulations were set, safe for the general public.