Abbey Stadium Redevelopment in Redditch includes a large leisure / retail building which is currently being designed from an architectural and mechanical/electrical services perspective.
Halcrow was instructed to provide advice on certain aspects of the fire safety engineering of the building, particularly with respect to the issue of smoke ventilation from the retail units and atrium areas; the provision of adequate firefighting shafts and escape stairways was also highlighted.
Conceptual designs were developed which featured slot extract systems for the retail units and restaurant areas on the ground floor to protect the entrance foyer and mall from the ingress of smoke in the event of a fire. An additional protected staircase was also proposed, as well as a relocation of one of the proposed internal staircases. Natural smoke ventilation at roof level, combined with a smoke reservoir were proposed for the protection of the spaces facing the central atrium.