The Preservation of Heritage and Historic Buildings from Fire

When you look at a heritage building, you see a living testament to our history, culture and identity .

Heritage and historic structures were created at a time when contemporary fire engineering standards were non-existent and as a result they face a constant threat from fire. A single spark can cause irreversible damage.

Providing modern day fire safety in historic buildings is a difficult task, it requires a delicate balance between an adequate level of fire safety and preserving the heritage and beauty of the building. So, let’s get into why fire protection is important for heritage buildings and Fireshields solutions to preserve them.

Why Fire Protection is More Than Just Compliance for Heritage Buildings

Protecting heritage buildings is not just about meeting compliance with modern fire safety requirements; it is a balancing act between safeguarding history and preserving the original intent of the building.

Properly designed fire protection systems tailored to your building’s needs help to avoid extensive and harmful renovations or even complete or partial demolition.

Fire protection in historic buildings is not just about preserving the building, but also the occupants, it’s historic contents and furnishings and emergency personnel attending a fire event.

The reuse and renovation of historic buildings is a more sustainable approach to construction with a lower environmental impact compared to demolition and rebuilding new on the site.

Challenges in Fire Safety for Heritage Buildings

Heritage buildings present unique challenges when it comes to fire safety . Their very age and historical significance are what makes them beautiful but inherently vulnerable to the threat of fires.

Historic buildings contain fire hazards not found in current buildings which create high fire loads such as timber framed floors, roof and structural beams and columns, all are extremely susceptible to fire.

The challenge is to protect these beautiful building elements with an extra layer of modern fire protection to help shield them in a fire, but keep them visible and in their original condition preserving them for generations to come.

Despite these challenges, Fireshield solutions are available that can protect your heritage building and it’s occupants from fire.

Why Choose a Fireshield Coating?

Modern fire protection systems are effective, but their installation in Heritage Buildings can breech historic protection orders, potentially cause irreversible damage, conceal architectural features and ultimately compromise the historic value.

Fireshield’s fire rated coatings are an innovative and sympathetic approach to enhancing the fire resistance of vulnerable structural and non-structural timber components and materials in single to multi-level historic buildings.

Using a specifically designed Fireshield intumescent coating system is a cost-effective solution that will keep heritage structures authentic and safe for longer.

These coatings contain no harmful chemicals, are waterborne and simple to apply by Registered Applicators making them ideal for exposure to heritage features.

What’s more, we have leading in-house technical experts, Fire Engineers and specification writers to help you through the entire process.