Fire Protection and Aesthetic Design
The wide range of modern functional glazings now available has opened up remarkable scope for creative design in today's architecture. Transparent design from façades and roofs right through to the centre of the building is no longer a vision. It is reality.
State-of-the-art glazing can now be used in high performance designs to provide a protected yet comfortable and versatile building environment founded on daylighting, brightness and clear vision, replacing solid roofs, doors and partitions which block out views and natural light. Fire protection and design flexibility can be combined in one product range - Pilkington Pyrostop® and Pilkington Pyrodur®.
Pilkington Pyrostop®
Transparent Fire Walls - Rated Protection against heat, flame, smoke, hot gases.
Pilkington Pyrostop® was the first in a new performance category of fire-resistant glazings when it came on to the market over 20 years ago. It is still leading the way and can show an established track record since its introduction of repeated fire testing as well as widespread use in a wide range of building types and building applications.
Pilkington Pyrostop® forms an insulating barrier against fire, providing protection against heat, smoke, flame, hot gases, and fumes. This excellent performance is based on its sandwich structure of glass and a special interlayer, which is totally compatible and optically homogeneous with the glass. When exposed to fire, the pane facing the flames fractures but remains in place, and the interlayer immediately foams up to form a thick, resilient and tough insulating shield that absorbs the energy of the blaze. This takes place at only modest temperatures around 120 °C such that protection is provided right from the early stages of a fire. The resilient sandwich structure of Pilkington Pyrostop® ensures that it stays in place and continues to act as an insulating fire-resistant wall for the required time periods as defined in the standard approvals tests.
Pilkington Pyrostop® isolates the fire and protects the side facing away from the blaze for a sufficiently long period to allow safe escape or access for firefighters. It also limits fire spread and reduces fire damage. Pilkington Pyrostop® has also been tested and approved to the hose stream test which demonstrates its physical resilience under fire conditions, as required by US and Canadian standards.
In all other respects Pilkington Pyrostop® can be used as a normal high vision clear glass. To carry out its rated fire-resistant function Pilkington Pyrostop® must always be installed in an appropriately rated fire-resistant framing system.
Pilkington Pyrodur®
Clear Integrity Fire Barrier - Plus protection against radiant heat.
Pilkington Pyrodur® is a high performance integrity rated fire-resistant glazing, which means that it functions effectively as a physical barrier against flame, smoke, and hot gases.
The great advantage of Pilkington Pyrodur® is that, as well as meeting the basic requirements laid down for integrity rated materials, it also offers excellent protection against radiant heat, which is no normally provided by the majority of other glasses in its class.
The function of Pilkington Pyrodur® is based on the same advanced technology as used in Pilkington Pyrostop® . Pilkington Pyrodur® must also be used in an appropriately rated fire-resistant framing system.