The amazing feats of fire-resistant glazing
Designing buildings that are safe from the risk of fire means creating compartments that can contain a blaze for long enough that occupants can escape and emergency services can arrive on scene.
Where once this could only be achieved with solid walls and doors, advances in glazing technology mean partitions can be made of glass, giving designers the freedom to create much more light-filled and attractive interiors.
But standing up to a fire for the time periods required is no small task, as we discover in this video, presented by Steve Bond, customer and technical support manager for fire products at Pilkington.
Providing protection for the longest period currently possible with Pilkington glass – three hours – means it needs to stand up to temperatures higher than a hot oven, a jet engine or even a blast furnace.
This amazing level of resilience is achieved by building up many layers of glass and special interlayers that expand on exposure to fire and form a very effective insulation against the heat.
To find out more about fire resistant glass from Pilkington, visit www.pilkington.com/fire
