Walk on Glass - Fire Rated

Typical Applications for fire-rated floors:

The spread of fire within a building is restricted by sub dividing it into compartments. These compartments
are separated from each other by walls and floors of fire resisting construction.
Whether the construction requires being fire-rated is summed up by the following two principals:
• To prevent the rapid spread of fire that could trap occupants of the building.
• To help reduce the opportunity for fires to become large and therefore more dangerous to occupants
and the fire service personnel.
The actual degree of fire-rating to give the required fire control and spread depend on various factors
including:
• The use of the building affects the quantity of people within, the potential for fires to start and spread
and the ease of evacuation.
• The height to the top and the depth to the bottom of the building again affect ease of evacuation and
the effectiveness of the fire services to intervene.
• The availability of sprinkler systems will affect the spread of fire and may suppress it altogether.
Based on the principals set out above there are many reasons for installing a glass floor that is both fire-rated
and fully certified to BS EN 1365-2 :2000 and BS 476: PAERT 21:1987. Part B of the Building Regulations lays
out the basic rules but the final approval will be given by the Fire Officer and consultation should be requested
to ensure correct specification.

GENERALLY
 Part of an escape route
 Parts of a building that are occupied for different purposes
 Ground floor level above a basement
 All basement floors if lowest part is more than 10m below the ground floor level
 Upper storey of buildings more than 2 storeys
 All Floors of a building if highest part is more than 30m from ground floor level
 Places of special fire hazard.
DWELLINGS
 Floors above a integral garage
 Floors between separate flats or maisonettes
NON DWELLING
 Car parks
 Institutional buildings including health care
 Shopping complex
 Storage premises
 Places for assembly and recreation
 Schools with floor areas greater than 800m2
 All floors with areas greater than 2,000m2

Fire-rated Walk on Glass system has been conceived to provide a fire-rated, transparent and load-bearing glass
floor. These floors can fitted independently or be joined together to provide an unlimited expanse of glass floor. Each
individual free-spanning element can reach up to widths of 2328mm with a maximum glazed area of 2.82m2.
The junction between each co-joining element is made with a simple 8mm silicone joint on the upper surface and the
underneath can be covered neatly by a narrow cosmetic flashing allowing sight-lines of as little as 55mm.
With considerably greater possible dimensions, fire-rated floors can be supplied up to 3.03m2 with maximum dimension of
up to 2335mm. For example a square floor of a massive 1740mm by 1740mm can be achieved.
Fire Rated  Walk on Glass range has been fully tested and is certified with a fire rating of 30 minute integrity and 30 minute
insulation (EI30). We also have an option of increasing this fire rating to 60 minutes (EI60) in the 4-edge support
configuration with only a slightly reduced maximum possible area of 2.54m2.
Although introduced as a fire-rated solution, the Walk on Glass range includes options for standard glass that can
integrated alongside to provide continuity of design throughout the project. Non fire-rated floors can of course be
considerably larger as there is no restriction due to their fire restricting specifications.
All these floors comprise of a load bearing construction of multi-layered panes of heat-treated safety glass resin-laminated
together to carry pedestrian and concentrated loads. Combined with an under pane to give the required fire-rating this is
then structurally bonded within a powder coated mild steel frame to provide a fully integrated element.
With the application of a High Performance Solar Coating Walk on Glass range can provide U-values down to 1.1
W/m2
/K to conform to the most demanding of Parts ‘L1’ and ‘L2’ of the Building Regulations for external as well as internal
use. This High Performance coating will also help diminish solar gain by restricting solar transmittance to a minimal 28%.
Combinations that will both keep the environment cool in summer as well as warm in winter.
For a crisp, ‘whiter’, appearance these floors can be supplied with Low Iron glass to allow an amazing 80% light
transmittance and give true transparency from one level to the other.
The complex build-up of these floors will provide the silence of an acoustic performance of 50 Db (Rw) along with the
elimination of the transmission of UV. Peace from both the noise and the knowledge that solar bleaching has been
controlled.
To allow for consistency, non fire-rated floors can be designed in a similar fashion to achieve the same “look”. These will
be more economical than the fire-rated floors even if they are required to have “External” rating.
All testing has been carried out with a uniformly distributed load of 2.5 KN/m2 however greater loads can be
accommodated by utilizing thicker glass panes if required. If larger load capabilities are required then these can be
calculated on an individual basis.
As all Walk on Glass range is supplied fully integrated into a single steel frame it makes fitting extremely easy and free
from mess and complication. The glass, being structurally bonded within the frame, will give years of trouble free
operation and eliminates the need to dismantle and clean the various panes. Once the floor is dropped into position the
only thing remaining is to apply the provided insulation to the underside of the frame. This can then be concealed within
the internal finishes or by optional flashings in powder coated steel or Architectural stainless steel.