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SE CONTROLS - Advanced Smoke Ventilation Solution From SE Controls Protects Nottingham Students

A £55 million student accommodation development in Nottingham is using integrated smoke and heat exhaust ventilation systems from SE Controls to provide smoke free escape routes for around 1000 students living in the new purpose designed apartments at Chettles Yard.

To meet the fire safety and smoke ventilation needs in three of the new buildings at the Chettles Yard development, SE Controls developed specific smoke and heat ventilation solutions for each accommodation block based around its versatile SHEVTEC® system.

Dedicated extended travel distance escape solution
As the maximum escape travel distance in two of the apartment buildings was within the 7.5 metre limit covered by Approved Document B of the Building Regulations, the SHEVTEC Natural Corridor Ventilation System was installed. However, the six storey F Building had a travel distance of 12.0 metres so SE Controls created a dedicated fire engineered solution around its LABC approved SHEVTEC Extended Travel Distance System.

In the event of a fire, the main exit route is through a singe protected stairwell, so the SE Controls solution had to provide high integrity smoke and heat ventilation that not only allowed occupants to travel the increased distance to safety, but must also perform at least as well as the code compliant systems installed in the other two accommodation blocks.

Fully compliant smoke ventilation system
The extended travel system used in Building F was originally developed by SE Controls using advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to create an off the shelf, fully compliant and CE marked solution that can not only assist escape but also simplify the building’s design by removing the need for additional escape stairs.

In addition, the size of the smoke shafts used can be reduced to less than half of the 1.5m2 required under a typical natural ventilation system. When combined with the requirement for only one escape stair, this allowed the developers to incorporate more apartments within the building’s envelope.

The SHEVTEC system uses a dual smoke shaft and fan ventilated solution linked by smoke sensors through SE Controls’ powerful OSLoop® control system, which when triggered determines which shaft is closest to the fire and automatically opens the smoke shaft doors on each floor to extract smoke away from escape routes, corridors and stairs. Once actuated, OSLoop continues to monitor the entire system throughout the incident to ensure the system maintains its performance in accordance with the imminent EN12101 part 9 standard.

Fully managed turnkey project
SE Controls provided a full turnkey solution to the Chettles Yard development, involving project management, the supply and installation of the SHEVTEC system and liaison with all the appropriated authorities and inspectors, as well as full testing and rigorous commissioning procedures to verify the system’s performance, operation and compliance with the design brief.

Will Perkins, SE Controls’ Managing Director, explained: “This is an ideal example of how we combine our technical expertise, immense experience and innovative products to develop an outstanding solution on a challenging project.”

He added: “Chettles Yard itself is an incredibly innovative development and is providing much needed high quality accommodation for students at Nottingham and Trent Universities and I’m delighted that we have been able to play a key role in maintaining their safety.”