PGS Glass has partnered with Promat UK to provide fire resistant screens and fire doors for a project involving the conversion of a disused listed building into a new travel centre for Trailfinders in Windsor, Berkshire.
The building had stood empty since it was vacated by the previous occupier in June 2023. A statement said that architects, Lustedgreen, were tasked with “the transformation” of the building and created the accommodation required by the travel industry brand.
The Grade II listed status of the mid-18th century building required a “sensitive approach” to the conversion work, it noted, to ensure the redecoration of the shopfront, new signage and all the internal refurbishment over five floors would comply with planning and conservation area stipulations.
The statement added that another “key dimension” to the project was to ensure the layout of the ground floor and first floor could be configured to meet today’s fire safety requirements, without compromising the aesthetic vision or other important design objectives. These included maximising the use of the space and ensuring visibility and light transmission between areas was optimised, it said.
One of the ways this was achieved was to form a ground floor lobby using fire resistant internal glass screens and fire rated doors. A similar approach was adopted on the first floor to compartmentalise additional sales and meeting areas.
The project’s fit-out contractor, Barnwood Construction, approached PGS Glass to provide these internal elements. The statement said that the PGS team identified the fully tested fire resistant glazing system, Promat SYSTEMGLAS Ligna, to meet the design and performance objectives.
On the ground floor, PGS used this system to manufacture and install three EI60 fire rated screens, each measuring around 1.1m x 2.4m and specified to provide integrity and insulation fire protection for 60 minutes, integrated with a matching fire rated door set. The timber selected for the screen framing was European Oak and this was closely replicated in a veneer finish on the door set.
On the first floor, two further Promat SYSTEMGLAS Ligna screens were created, this time with an EI30 rating, complete with another fire door. Due to the nature of the historic building, this part of the internal glazing package required additional joinery skills from the PGS team to level the floor by creating and installing an additional plinth.
Paul Groves, contracts manager at PGS Glass, a Promat approved installer, said: “This was a particularly interesting project to be part of given the characteristics of this historic building, and the contemporary design created by Lustedgreen. Having worked closely with Promat for many years, we knew we could consult with them at an early stage to develop the correct specification for the screens and fire doors to provide the project team and client with a high quality, fully compliant solution.”
