Sherwin-Williams’ FIRETEX® fire protection systems were applied on the Brunel Building.
The Brunel Building, the award-winning workspace in the centre of London, has employed the intumescent fire protective coatings developed by Sherwin-Williams to ensure additional fire protection.
The 22,500 m2
workspace is located next to the London Paddington railway station, it includes 16 floors and features a 3.5m high column-free space throughout. This unique structural design allowed the building to receive the 2016 London Design Awards and the 2020 Structural Steel Design Award, as well as to be shortlisted for several other recognitions.
The passive fire protection experts from Sherwin-Williams worked alongside with the contractor Laing O’Rouke, the structural engineers from Arup and the specialist structural steel supplier Severfield, in order to provide fire protection to both interior and exterior steelwork for up to 60 minutes. They applied FIRETEX C69 primer, FIRETEX FX2003 intumescent coating and FIRETEX M71V2 decorative topcoat for the interiors, while for the exteriors the team selected Macropoxy 400 primer, FIRETEX FX6000 intumescent coating and Acrolon C237 topcoat.
The epoxy zinc phosphate primer and Certifire-approved intumescent coat were applied in shop, so they allowed the contractor to benefit from the fast-drying properties. In addition, the fire-tested and fully-approved acrylic urethane topcoat offered strong colour retention, maintaining the Brunel Building’s aesthetic appearance.
“The architectural features and design required a fabricated steel which could be protected off-site and installed with minimum damage. The team at Sherwin-Williams offered a technical solution which allowed the exposed interior steel and exoskeleton to meet the desired fire protection levels without compromising on design or delivery,” stated the Senior Project Manager of Severfield, Andy Luter.
“The FIRETEX range of products allows us to coat steelwork off-site where relevant with fast drying times, resulting in minimal damage, as well as cost and time savings to help steel fabricators to meet their requirements for fire protection. In a building such as this, where hundreds of people could be moving about at any one time, proven fire protection coatings are vital in protecting lives and property,” declared Rick Perkins, the Global Product Director – Fire for Sherwin-Williams.
Sherwin-Williams offered fire protection to many other buildings across the world, such as the Y-Towers in Amsterdam, smart offices in London and the Flame Towers in Azerbaijan.