Safety in the event of a fire is one of the most demanding criteria to be met by a building’s design. Architects are faced with the challenge of striking a balance between legal specifications, technical requirements and aesthetic demands.
For example, doors, glazing and facades have to protect escape and emergency routes and prevent the spread of fire and smoke while simultaneously blending harmoniously into the overarching design concept.
Efficient fire protection in the building shell: Thermally insulated doors and fixed glazing with forster unico EI30 offer proven protection in outdoor use. Turn/tilt windows with fire protection function are also available. Photos: © Damian Poffet
For decades now, Forster Profile Systems has been developing fire protection solutions made of steel and stainless steel that meet these exact requirements while being built to last.
Fire protection solutions have to be able to save lives and protect property in an emergency. Planning is therefore subject to strict requirements – from country-specific testing and approval procedures to statutory maintenance obligations. Forster assists architects, specialist planners and contractors across all project phases, providing technical advice and a comprehensive range of fire protection systems made of steel and stainless steel for applications in interiors and the building shell.
Steel as a sustainable material for fire protection
When it comes to the selection of materials, steel offers a number of key benefits for fire protection elements: it is inherently non-flammable, resilient and dimensionally stable – even at high temperatures up to a tested protection duration of 120 minutes. These properties allow for filigree, large-scale window, door and glazing constructions that are particularly robust, thus enabling a high standard of safety while ensuring maximum transparency.
Fire protection with a filigree design: With the forster unico xs building solution, thermally insulated and uninsulated fire-resistant screens
with extremely narrow sightlines can be realised. Photos: © Beat Brechbühl
with extremely narrow sightlines can be realised. Photos: © Beat Brechbühl
Forster manufactures the fire protection profiles from steel and stainless steel, into which specially developed fillings and seals are integrated. Forster also optionally offers its profile systems in low-carbon emission steel (LCES) and supports planners with the associated system EPDs in projects seeking sustainability certification such as LEED, BREEAM, Minergie or Ecobau.
Fire protection for interiors – safety meets freedom of design
Fire-resistant doors and glazing play a decisive role in ensuring indoor escape and emergency routes are made safe. Forster Profile Systems can look back on decades of experience in the development of safe, secure solutions. Back in 1984, Forster was the first system supplier to introduce a glazed steel door that met the fire resistance requirements of the time in the form of the “forster fuego classic”. This innovation opened up new possibilities for architects to design light-flooded interiors without compromising on safety.
Fire protection with a filigree design: With the forster presto xs building solutions, thermally insulated and uninsulated fire-resistant screens
with extremely narrow sightlines can be realised. Photos: © Forster Profile Systems
with extremely narrow sightlines can be realised. Photos: © Forster Profile Systems
With forster fuego light, Forster now offers an advanced, holistic system that, depending on the approval, is suitable for doors, sliding doors and fixed glazing with fire resistance classes up to EI120. The steel doors have passed a durability test of up to one million cycles and offer a wide range of design options – from classic single-leaf side-hung doors to space-saving telescopic sliding doors and sliding doors with an integrated escape route function.
These solutions ensure safe and smooth operation, even in high-footfall areas such as airports and railway stations. Forster also offers a fire protection solution for filigree, non-thermally insulated inner closures in escape routes in the form of forster presto xs. The system combines narrow visible widths with tested fire protection classes up to EW60 and smoke protection up to S200. It also scores highly in buildings that rely on maximum transparency in interiors.
Fire protection in the building shell
Fire protection plays a dual role in the building shell: for one thing, it protects against flashovers to neighbouring buildings or adjacent parts of the building; for another, it ensures compartmentalisation across floors in the event of a fire. The door, window and facade elements must also guarantee the thermal insulation of the building. To meet these complex requirements, Forster offers a tailored portfolio of insulated profile systems that can meet various fire protection classifications.
Thermally insulated curtain walls with fire protection: The forster thermfix vario profile system is based on a mullion/transom construction.
With its slim face widths of just 45 millimetres, it allows for a wide range of large-scale applications. Photos: © Ronald Tilleman
With its slim face widths of just 45 millimetres, it allows for a wide range of large-scale applications. Photos: © Ronald Tilleman
The thermally insulated profile system forster unico forms the basis for safe, stable and durable door and window solutions in the building shell. For applications requiring a filigree design, forster unico xs is available with slim profile face widths starting from 23 millimetres.
One especially sustainable solution is forster omnia, the first profile system made entirely of steel. Like all thermally insulated profile systems from Forster, it does not require synthetic insulating materials, nor does it need additional fillings thanks to its special construction. This makes it easy to recycle windows, doors and glazing by type at the end of their life cycle.
Another option is forster thermfix vario, a mullion/transom system that allows for large-scale fire-resistant facade constructions up to class EI120 – with minimum face widths of just 45 millimetres. For horizontal and sloped glazing for inclinations of 0 to 60 degrees, the forster thermfix light facade with attachment profile system offers tested fire protection up to EI60.
Long service life as a quality feature
A door that has provided reliable protection for 35 years? When it comes to fire protection, a long service life is a key factor. An impressive example is a fire-resistant door from Forster, which was installed in Germany in 1988 – and still works flawlessly today. It represents the quality and durability of the steel profile systems from the Swiss manufacturer.
