Maximising engagement, visitor safety and asset protection in museums
The UK has some of the most popular museums in the world spanning a hugely diverse range of historical and cultural subjects. According to the latest statistics, the country’s most visited museum, the British Museum, attracts around 5.8 million annual visitors alone, and it is estimated that there were around 35 million visits in total to England’s top ten museums in 2023.
Building design plays a key role in the success of any museum, regardless of its size. And whilst there is no standard formula for how a museum building should look, there are a number of common goals that lie at the heart of designing these environments, including maximising daylight.
Internal glazing is used extensively to achieve this aim as well as to assist with visitor flow and ensure there is visual connectivity between spaces. In many cases, glass elements also contribute to the visitor experience, adding to the aesthetic appeal of the museum.
But it may also need to have a protective role too, preventing the spread of fire between internal spaces should the worst happen. In fact, the fire strategy in general in museums is critically important, not only to protect visitors and staff, but to ensure the often unique and invaluable assets they accommodate are not lost forever in the event of a fire.
Creating glazing elements within museums which meet all these objectives is possible using the Promat SYSTEMGLAS® fire resistant glazing system as one recent project in the Czech Republic demonstrates. The project at the Military History Institute in Prague involved the reconstruction of an area of the building which houses a Czech resistance memorial, so it was important that the design and specification of the glazing was fitting given its national cultural significance.
Promat was tasked with providing horizontal walkable glazing inside with fire resistance capabilities, which is available in the UK as a fully tested system called SYSTEMGLAS Stratum. The structural floor measured approximately 5m x 6m and was created using a load-bearing fire resistant glass with a 57mm thickness in combination with a layer of extra clear glass and a slip-resistant top layer.
The glass was installed into framing created using a steel structure clad on the underside with PROMATECT-H®, Promat’s calcium silicate-based material which is highly resistant to fire. The overall result in this application was to provide a walk-on glass floor that provides EI45 – integrity and insulation protection for 45 minutes.
The balance that this project achieved in terms of fire safety and aesthetics typifies what architects can achieve with Promat SYSTEMGLAS. Several different framing options, including timber and steel, mean fire resistant glass elements can be created with EI protection of between 30 and 120 minutes to suit modern, contemporary museums as well as architecturally sensitive and listed buildings.
Fire-rated glass screens and partitions can incorporate single or double glass doors too, which maximise the glass area and minimise the framing. These can also feature automatic closing systems linked to the fire alarm for additional protection.
