The renovated head office of consultancy and engineering firm DHV in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, is to be fitted with a unique water mist system that will make fires easier to control. The system produces a dense mist in the area where the office floors meet the building’s atrium space. This screen of water mist acts as a barrier in the event of fire. The water mist will also have a cooling effect and will make the smoke less dense.
The system will be a world first: the technique is currently not applied anywhere else in the world in this form. The water mist screen will replace the physical partitions that traditionally divide office buildings into multiple fire compartments. The system, which is intended for use in office buildings, was developed in-house by DHV. It is significantly cheaper than a sprinkler installation, requires less material, and is easier to install.
DHV subjected the water mist system to a series of fire tests in collaboration with Wolter & Dros, Unica Automatic Sprinkler, R2B Inspecties and Efectis. Efectis constructed a partial model of an office floor for this purpose. A quantity of wood equivalent to the expected maximum fire load was then set on fire in order to test the fire-retardant properties of the water mist system.
The tests demonstrated that the water mist has the same fire-retardant effect as physical fire partitions. After the spray heads are installed, a so-called statement of conformity will be issued to DHV indicating that the water mist system is equivalent to a fire partition.
Thanks to the water mist system, DHV will be able to retain the open look and feel of the head office. The building was originally constructed in the early seventies and is one of the first office buildings in the Netherlands without partitions between floors.
DHV renovated its head office in accordance with the principles of sustainability, partly with the aim of significantly reducing energy consumption. The project will take the building’s energy efficiency rating from energy label G to A, resulting in annual savings of approx. 100,000 euro on energy costs. The renovation is in line with DHV’s policy of achieving climate neutrality. The company itself is responsible for the integrated design and project management of the renovation project.