Over the past year, the fire resistance standards of our Fire Shutters, designed by Cox Architects®, has been evaluated for compliance with Australian Bush Fire standards. This process has now been completed and the fire shutters passed the testing requirements and now are suitable for use throughout Australia.
Our Fire Shutters are one part of the series of innovations which evolved as a result of Cox Architects® research project into Bush Fire Resistance Construction which started over 10 years ago.
This research was awarded many times both in Australia and internationally and also was a winner in the innovation excellence award in Queensland in 2011.
Our Fire Shutters incorporate several patented pieces of technology in order to provide a complete building envelope that could withstand the most severe bush fires in Australia and possibly on planet earth.
The initial requirement of our Fire Shutters was to provide fire protection to the openings of a building when exposed to bush fire attack. During the design and development of the shutters, it was concluded that the rigorous construction requirements to meet such an attack, also led to other opportunities and uses for the shutters which includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- High resistance to impact resistance.
- High resistance to cyclones.
- High thermal insulation against cold and hot temperatures.
- High security protection to a building by protecting the openings.
- The opportunity of providing highly insulated sun hoods to windows and openings.
- The opportunity of providing privacy screens using the upper and lower panels.
- The opportunity of deleting the requirement of curtains and other window furnishings.
The design parameters which Cox Architects® set were high and were unique in themselves. It was seen that in order to survive a full-scale bush fire attached, the thermal resistance of the openings (eg windows) was not sufficient in itself to ensure full protections against the fire. This is because during a full-scale bush fire attack, the high winds produce many flying projectiles which can easily penetrate standard glazing of windows. Once the building envelope has been compromised by such penetration, the fire protection of the building has been lost and the building can no longer be deemed a safe haven for occupation during the fire.
It was therefore necessary to provide high impact resistance. It is also possible to specify ballistic impact resistance shutters should this be a special requirement of the customer.
The shutters also had to be robust and not be dependant and reliant upon complicated systems which can fail in emergencies. It was found that it was simple to design a system which relied on complicated systems but it was complicated to design a system which was basic in concept and unique. The chosen system has proven unique and offers many unusual advantages for providing a high performance building.
Our Shutters are not limited to the use of fire shutters alone. They’re now patented in Australia and internationally and are now ready for use internationally. The scope of use of the shutters has consequently broadened beyond fire purposes alone.
Attached are photos of the shutters used in different buildings which show various applications of use of the same.
If you are contemplating a high performance building or you see the need for a highly durable building protections system, or you simply want an effective sun hood and flexible privacy screen, then please contact Cox Architects® who will be pleased to assist with your enquiry.
High resolution images are available. Contact us on +61 7 3857 7635.
Please contact our Director on +61 7 3857 7635 for interviews or additional information.
