Creating safe, light-filled and productive learning environments
Schools and nursery school environments present many design challenges given the need to create attractive spaces where children will feel engaged and comfortable whilst being safe and secure. And studies from around the world, conducted over many years, have demonstrated how important it is to get school design right due to the negative impact a poor quality environment can have on a child’s development and ability to learn.
Ensuring classrooms and teaching spaces, sports and dining halls and other communal areas are designed in a way that maximises the availability of natural light has become a key design objective in recent years. The health and wellbeing benefits of natural light versus artificial light are increasingly being recognised, and there are crucial energy reduction advantages too – hence why internal glazing has become an integral part of school interiors.
Glazing within schools, however, must be to the correct specification in order to meet a number of other requirements demanded by technical standards, Building Regulations and best practice guidance – including Building Bulletin 93 (BB93) in England and Wales. These are chiefly in respect of fire resistance, safety, acoustics and thermal performance.
Importantly, this means the brief for fire resistant glazing in schools must consider more than simply fire resistance – it must be multi-functional to deliver the maximum benefit.
One of the ways school designers and architects can achieve this is to use Promat SYSTEMGLAS®. This is a fire resistant glazing system available in four different framing options which has been tested as a complete assembly to demonstrate that its strictly defined materials and components provide the required protection.
In the UK and Ireland, SYSTEMGLAS is available with fire ratings of 30, 60 and 120 minutes – all integrity and insulation (EI) to enable occupants to escape safely in the event of a fire and to protect the building during the fire’s early stages. The many different types of glass suitable for use with SYSTEMGLAS mean a specification can be developed which offers impact resistance, to prevent injury in the event of heavy (soft body) contact with the glass, as well as insulation to achieve acoustic and thermal performance goals.
One recent project in Czechia illustrates how SYSTEMGLAS can maximise natural light in an educational environment without compromising safety or aesthetics. At the primary school and nursery in the Studenec region, an extension to the building includes large floor-to-ceiling windows facing out onto a courtyard and internal double fire doors created using Promat SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna – the timber frame version.
The complete package was specified with a fire rating of EI30 to offer integrity and insulation protection for 30 minutes. The windows include double glazed units to ensure thermal performance is not compromised and internal comfort levels are stable, as well as protecting the fire resistant glass from UV degradation. Single glazing features in other areas, principally the fire doors.
All installations of Promat SYSTEMGLAS® are backed by Promat UK’s 360-degree wheel of assurance. This demonstrates that the company has control of the complete supply chain from raw material sourcing through manufacturing to installation, meaning Promat can issue a certificate of conformity on completion.
