DMA Engineers were engaged as part of the Aspect Architects team to undertake a range of fire protection and fire safety services for the redevelopment of the Rowes building and precinct for a range of retail and commercial purposes. Our scope included:

• the detailed design of a fire sprinkler upgrade.
• fire hydrant and hose reel services design.
• providing performance based solutions required for the building design to achieve compliance with the building code.

Due to the original heritage nature of the building, it was critical that the disturbance of the original building be minimised wherever possible. Our fire protection team conducted a thorough survey of the existing site to provide detailed documentation outlining specific instruction about services to be removed, replaced or retained and re-connected. Our fire safety team collaborated with the building certifier and fire brigade throughout the process to ensure all fire safety considerations were incorporated in the design.

Using Revit, our team conducted coordination in the 3D space, providing a clear picture of the final product as well as enhancing the project team’s understanding of spatial requirements for services.

By engaging our fire protection design team to complete both the sprinkler design and fire hydrant & hose reel design, the client benefited from a streamlined fire services design process, particularly when assessing the water supply requirements and spatial design of critical life safety infrastructure. The collaboration of our fire safety team with the building certifier and fire brigade also ensured that existing building structures remained largely unaltered by our solutions, and the client’s objective for maximum space connectivity in the building was achieved. Our fire safety team used their extensive fire engineering experience to create an innovative design that overcame the restrictions of the building code.