FIRE PROTECTION, THE ARCHITECT & THE PUBLIC
LANS for new buildings in Hong PLANS
Kong have to conform to the Buildings Ordinance and Regula- tions and to the "Code of Practice
n
Provision of Means of Escape in ase of Fire and Allied Require- ments." and to receive the approval f the Building Authority and the Director of Fire Services.
Both the Planning and Construc- tion Regulations cover in part re- quirements for the protection of buildings and their
occupants zainst the fire hazard.
It has been said that the architect has to spend a disproportionate part of his time on this part of his work in the preparation of a project, that the rules are unnecessarily stringent,
d that his efforts to comply with the regulations are nullified by neg. lect and ignorance on the part of landlords and tenants. once the building is handed over.
Furthermore, the building owner is incensed by the additional cost that fire protection requirements impose on his budget.
Let us consider each of these re- tions in turn in more detail.
The programme for the fire pro- tection of the building, its occupants and its contents should be consid- red by the architect as part of his Complete brief for the whole pro- ject, just as the air-conditioning and other services must be considered
A
part of the architect's brief.
The first protection requirements must not be thought of as something that can be applied after the general design is complete. The fire and smoke dies should be regarded as im- portant rooms and spaces and an in- tal part of the accommodation. When the normal functional circula- tion is being worked out so should the circulation for
escape in case
fre be equally considered.
And so with the fire-fighting ser- vices, pipe work for hydrants, sprinkler systems, water storage and other fire-fighting equipment; these all occupy space, and require de- signing into, and co-ordinating with all the other design features of the project. Regarding it in this way, it should not occupy a disproportionate amount of the ar- chitect's time. It is only when these matters are forgotten and have to be introduced when all else is settled does it become a difficult problem to solve.
by.
Professor
W. G. GREGORY,
B. Arch., A.R.I.B.A.
are em-
Now, are the rules in fact un-
They necessarily strict? pirical and therefore arbitary, but they have been made from experi- ence, research and the study of what actually happens when a fire oc curs. The object is to protect life and property not only within each building but also to prevent a con- flagration. The layman's argument "this is a reinforced concrete build- ing, how can it burn." misses the point. It is not so much a question of burning as of the effect of smoke on the occupants and of heat on the material used in building. when the contents of a building catch fire.
Materials which
burn. may not may melt, vaporise or expand when subjected to heat, becoming defec tive in themselves and affecting other materials in contact or com- bined with them.
The rules are designed to give the occupants a good chance of escape in case of fire, where ever they may be or whatever they are doing in the building. and to contain the fire long enough to enable the Fire
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 17, NUMBER 4
Brigade to arrive on the scene and deal with it.
The first consideration in drafting rules of this type must be the pro- tection of the general public against acts of the individual. The audience in a cinema or the staff in an office for instance have no means of pro- tecting themselves against fire (the wearing of asbestos suit and breathing apparatus is asking too much) and depend on the building owner for this.
an
When the rules may be thought to be strict is when they are applied literally without regard to individu- al circumstances. Building designs are seldom alike, and each should be treated on its merits. Thus if the travel distance is laid down as 120 ft. in a particular circumstance. this should be regarded by the au- thorities and the architects as merely a guide and latitude should be al lowed to permit say 122, 124 or 126 ft. or any dimension when other factors justify it. Rules should be applied with imagination. if build- ing design is to progress.
But to the architect what is the most frustrating is the total disre gard by the occupiers and owners of buildings to the precautions and protection that the architect has taken and provided in his design, This is particularly so in Hong Kong, and a number of typical ex- amples may be sited.
CLOSURE OF THE TOP FLIGHT OF STAIRCASES.
This is done more often with a locked collapsible iron gate so that the top tenant has greater privacy and use of the roof space. In single staircase buildings the staircase is required to give access to the roof to escape to the roof whence they stand a better chance of rescue by ladder or of getting away OVET neighbouring roofs.
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