Specialist Heritage Services
Following a range of major fire events involving heritage buildings in the UK, the fire industry has been working to evaluate the potential risks of fire events and the effects on buildings that fire have. Jerry Quayle has been involved in a small way, but JQA offers a bespoke service to those that have legacy and heritage doors that need to provide fire resilience.
Working with the architects, buildings contractors, managing agents and the regulators both fire and heritage, Jerry has been involved in some significant Grade I listed building renovations as the specialist fire door consultant. JQA work alongside all parties and liaise with Historic England and other agencies to make sure that the heritage nature of the doors is not lost whilst improving the door and screens ability to withstand a fire event.
Heritage Projects
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Heritage Projects *
Municipal Building Liverpool (Grade 2* Listed Building) – conversation into luxury hotel (heritage doors)
• Rochdale Town Hall (Grade 1 Listed Building) – advice and refurbishment of heritage doors.
• Scottish National Gallery (Grade 1 Listed Building) – Edinburgh – advice, design and sign off replica heritage doors for fire performance.
• The Royal Exchange (Grade 1 Listed Building) – Heritage door advice and refurbishment
• Moseley Road Baths & Library (Grade 2* Listed Building) - Heritage door advice and refurbishment including passive fire stopping.
• Central Criminal Courts (Old Bailley) (Grade 1Listed Building) – London (Heritage doors and replica heritage doors for fire performance).
• Royal Holloway University of London – Founders Building (Grade 1 Listed Building) – Egham, England (Heritage doors and replica heritage doors for fire performance).
• Winchester College (Grade 1 Listed Building) – Winchester England (Heritage doors and legacy doors for fire performance).
Unique Case Study
During a recent project, JQA had the opportunity to test a pair of heritage doors taken from a site in South Kensington. These doors are identical in their original make-up; they were surplus to requirements on the project as they had to be replaced with new 60 minute doors. These doors are traditionally made with mortice and tenon joints and were constructed from mahogany timber.
We applied our remediation techniques to just one door and tested the other in the same condition as it had been installed, 115 years ago. The results of this work can be clearly seen in the video below.
In addition to the doors, we tested mock joinery door panels consisting of solid (Sapele) frames with a 12mm hardwood plywood as the panel. Our heritage experience has shown us that typical flat panels in these heritage doors are 12mm thick, usually solid timber in the oldest doors, but more recently plywood of some type.
These panels, you can see, were actually two panels per installation - the faces of the plywood were treated with a range of proprietary products and they lasted in excess of 30 minutes in all cases, despite the attack from the none fire side, which you can see from the video.
Heritage Fire Doors: Protecting History Without Compromise
At Jerry Quayle Associates, we understand the delicate balance between preserving historic character and ensuring modern fire safety. Heritage doors were not designed to be fire resistant; many are, based on their heavy construction, but this needs to be verified. JQA undertake full studies of heritage doors and together, with the risks found in each compartment that they serve, will apply tried and tested techniques to increase the performance of these doors - when and if appropriate. The heritage doors are then specially designed and tested to provide critical fire protection while respecting the unique aesthetics and materials of heritage and listed buildings.
These doors help prevent the spread of fire and smoke, giving occupants vital time to evacuate and emergency services time to respond - all without compromising the architectural integrity of protected properties.
Whether you're involved in the restoration of a historic home, church, museum, or public building, our expert consultants can guide you through compliant solutions that meet both conservation and safety requirements.
Preserve the past. Protect the future.
Contact us to find out how heritage fire doors can support your building’s safety and conservation needs.