SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna provides assured fire safety for prestigious bilingual school

The school, which is a co-educational, French bilingual, international school for 3-18 year olds, was established in 2015. Its new Upper School occupies a Georgian building facing onto Russell Square so any development work within the school has to carefully balance the preservation of period architecture with the provision of high quality facilities.

The latest project has created a meeting room and split an existing room in order to create a corridor and new classroom. By utilising the SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna butt-jointed glazed partitioning system, in combination with timber doorsets, the right aesthetic and performance balance could be achieved, in combination with assured EI30 fire protection and 39db acoustic insulation to help reduce unwanted noise disturbance. 

Highly experienced main contractor ME Construction was tasked with sourcing a solution. Founded in 2007, ME Construction is a leading specialist in refurbishment and selected new build projects, who endorse a ‘One Team, One Focus’ by working collaboratively with clients, consultants and the supply chain.

It was important for the client that 30 minutes fire safety could be assured with no ambiguity, and that the design of the glazed partitions complemented the existing décor. This included the creation of a glazed screen with an integral door spanning 3.8m. As a specialist in projects for the education sector, ME Construction was ideally positioned to source the right solution. 

In conjunction with Promat SYSTEMGLAS® approved installer PGS Glass, a partition and doorset was developed using the SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna fire resistant glazing system. Designed by Promat UK, a global leader in passive fire protection products, Ligna is one of a family of products which have been tested (CERTIFIRE CF5452) to provide integrity and insulation (EI) fire protection from 30 minutes up to 60 minutes (EI30 to EI60).

SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna’s exact configuration of fire rated glass and components, including beading and setting blocks is manufactured in house and is provided to installers who are fully supported by Promat UK throughout the installation stage.This ensures the timber frame is created to the correct specification and delivers the finished glazing’s promised fire protection level.

With Promat UK being in a unique position to offer fully transparent traceability on all the products used to create the partitions, as well as supporting PGS Glass throughout installation, it is able to provide a 360° ‘Wheel of Assurance’ to clients. This includes a certificate of conformity for installation, confirming that the glazing system has been installed correctly with no weaknesses in its ability to provide passive fire protection for the required timeframe.

For Kent-based PGS Glass, the École Jeannine Manuel School office development was the ideal project to utilise its fire rated glass experience and expertise to add value to a client project. The company works with clients across the South East to provide glass and glazing for all kinds of commercial and domestic projects, with one its core strengths being fire protection. 

Paul Groves, Contracts Manager at PGS Glass said: “We’re really pleased with the result that SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna has enabled us to achieve at the École Jeannine Manuel School. Working closely with ME Construction and Promat’s technical team from the outset, we have been able to create modern offices with maximum light transmission, whilst offering a fire protection assurance that provides total peace of mind for the client.”

The timber frame Ligna is one of four systems within the Promat SYSTEMGLAS® range which are backed with the 360° Wheel of Assurance for fire protection. SYSTEMGLAS® Ferro enables the creation of partitioning using a steel frame, whilst Advenerat and Celare utilise the PROMATECT® H fire resistant material to create the framing, which can be painted, overclad or concealed within surrounding walls, floors and ceilings to provide a virtually ‘frameless’ effect.

Part of international product manufacturing group the Etex Group, Promat UK has been producing fire, thermal and acoustic protection solutions for more than 30 years. In addition to its range of fire rated glass, the company manufactures market leading high performance insulation solutions which are used in numerous hi-tech, engineering and industrial sectors.