Victoria Square, Woking

Consisting of two residential blocks, a hotel and two car parks, the Victoria Square project in Woking features over 400 new high specification apartments in a prime location. Standing at 30 and 34 storeys respectively, both of the residential towers and the 22-storey hotel required smoke control systems to protect means of escape, common areas and fire fighting access. Colt developed the basis of the scheme with TUV SUD Wallace Whittle and was appointed by Briggs and Forrester, Imtech and NG Bailey to provide shaft dampers and environmental dampers for the residential towers. The development is anchored by a shopping centre which also includes a 4-storey car park (the green car park) for which Colt also provided fume ventilation and smoke clearance using Jetstream fans. A second car park scheme for the 3-storey red car park was also developed with Imtech using Cyclone 100 fans.

Working with the plans and strategies laid out by the architects and consultants, the Colt team designed effective smoke control solutions to protect the stairwells and adjacent lobbies in the residential towers. The Colt systems are designed to activate initially only on the fire floor to make sure the stairs are smoke free if occupants need to evacuate and making it easier for firefighters to identify and reach the seat of the fire when they arrive on the scene. However, manual overrides also exist for them to use, should they decide the situation calls for a different smoke control approach.

Colt also supplied environmental ventilation dampers to prevent corridors and lobbies from overheating. These were installed within ductwork and walls on each floor as needed – depending on the layout of each individual floor, between three or four dampers were required. The environmental dampers are connected to the Colt controls and will open to allow mechanical ventilation when the temperature reaches the limit as set by the building management system. The dampers are fire rated to maintain compartmentation when closed.

Ventilation was required in the car parks to remove car exhaust and other toxic fumes, as well as providing smoke clearance in the event of a fire. To determine the best approach, our designers created detailed CFD models to simulate different situations and test different solutions. Based on the results of this analysis, Colt Jetstream impulse fans were installed at various locations throughout the car parks to move fumes and, in the event of a fire, smoke towards a central smoke extract system.

If you need effective smoke control for your next residential project, email us at project.admin@uk.coltgroup.com or call our team of experts on 02392 451111 to talk about your requirements.