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Slimline All-Glass Fire-Rated Building Façade from Vetrotech Saint-Gobain & Forster Profile Systems

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Vetrotech Saint-Gobain, the global leader in fire-resistant glass solutions, together with Forster Profile Systems, global leaders in specialist steel fenestration solutions, announced the successful development of their new fire-rated, slim-line structural glazed curtain wall system. Both Vetrotech Saint-Gobain & Forster Profile Systems have their headquarters in Switzerland (Basel & Arbon respectively), with regional offices spread across the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. All of their fire-rated systems are tested and certified to the highest international standards, such as BS, EN, NFPA, ANSI, ASTM.

Traditionally, fire-rated façades utilise the stick method of construction, with mullion/ transom spigots, dry-glazing gaskets, pressure plates, and external snap-on capping to hold the fire-resistant glass in place. However, while architects often look for a clean, uncluttered appearance, which can only be achieved using structural silicone glazed systems, they also demand a seamless interface between firerated and non-fire rated structural glazing, either on the interior or on the exterior of a building.

Vetrotech and Forster have now achieved this. Their Slimline All- Glass Fire-Rated Building Façade system has achieved a fire rating of EI60 according to the European standard EN1364-1 at the Thomas Bell-Wright testing laboratory in Dubai, and certification is in process. The EI 60 rating means that this system will resist the passage of fire for 60 minutes, while also preventing excessive heat penetration for the same duration, making this solution ideal for both fire containment and safe evacuation of the occupants in the building. This is achieved via a special intumescent interlayer within the glass unit that foams up when subjected to the heat of the fire.

This wet glazing solution is ideal for both internal and external applications, where a fire rating is required, and the design intent is for a clean, flush, seamless appearance. Vetrotech and Forster are already working on several exciting projects around the world, where their new fire-rated structural glazed façade system will provide a solution the stakeholders did not think was possible previously.

Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants is a world-renowned centre for the testing of building construction systems and products, based in Dubai. Established in 1995, they have grown to be the premier such company in a region that covers a substantial portion of the globe. With multiple accreditations, including UKAS and IAS, a skilled team of over 100, multiple and large resistance-to-fire furnaces, UK and US fire propagation tests, numerous smaller (reaction-tofire) test capabilities, and their own UKAS-accredited, the in-house certification body (the first private certification body established in the Middle East), TBW is the goto resource for demonstrating compliance with building codes and standards.

For more information, please contact: Gopikrishnan on gopi. tm@saint-gobain.com or David Mills on david.mills@forster.ch or Abhishek Chhabra on abhishek. chhabra@bell-wright.com