A modern office design in an historic setting, Haymarket House is designed to connect seamlessly with the unique warmth and character of its surrounding streets.
Its distinctive square structure integrates with Smithfield Plaza and its surrounding streets with access on four sides to the ground floor retail elements.
We are responsible for commissioning 2No mechanical variable smoke shafts.
Smoke control systems are required in multi-storey residential buildings, mainly to protect the stairs to aid escape in the event of a fire, in compliance with the recommendations of Approved Document B and BS 9991:2011. Smoke shafts in multi-storey buildings take up potentially valuable space, so keeping the shafts as small as possible is beneficial and has led to mechanical shafts becoming a popular choice.
There is a choice of two alternative systems; natural or mechanical, with differing features and benefits to allow you the flexibility to incorporate the most suitable one into your building.
We work had on our projects to determine to right fit for each unique build we are involved with, and in the case of Haymarket House, a mechanical variable smoke shaft was the most suitable option.
A mechanical shaft is often used to reduce the required shaft cross section, trading the additional costs for the space saving, which is something this project required. A mechanical shaft uses a fan system to draw smoke out of the fire fighting lobby (fire ventilation) and requires a smaller shaft, which can be as small as only 0.6m².
In addition a mechanical shaft can perform better than a standard shaft as it extracts at a defined rate - this means that it is unaffected by external wind pressures. It is also less susceptible to obstructions to the airflow within the duct.