Is optimised fire safety a priority from the very beginning of your architectural design process?
Whether you are designing a high-rise building for an urban setting or need to factor in bushfire risk in a suburban or rural area, the architectural design process must incorporate compliant fire safety. This means consideration and decision-making about non-combustible cladding at the outset.
Key Insights
- Decisions about non-combustible cladding must be made early in the process of architectural design to streamline and expedite approval procedures, optimise fire safety and ensure compliance, reduce insurance premiums, and guarantee positive outcomes.
- Buildings must be designed both for their use and their environment. This means that, for bushfire-prone areas, risks are higher and an added layer of responsibility comes into play in the design of a fire-safe building and the materials chosen.
- ALPOLIC™ NC/A1 is the gold-standard DtS non-combustible aluminium cladding product on the Australian market today. Designed specifically for Australian conditions, it is ideal for commercial, industrial, and high-rise residential buildings.
As well as adapting for extreme weather and UV exposure, wind loads, and corrosion, building designers and architects must factor fire safety into their design process from the outset even as early as initial conceptual sketching.
Fire Safety a Paramount Consideration
Fire risk is inherent to some extent in every building, both due to internal factors (e.g, electrical systems, human behaviours) and external factors (e.g., weather extremes, adjacent buildings). In Australia, particularly, bushfire risk in so many regions adds another layer for consideration in building design. Material selection plays a major part in this, and it extends far beyond simple aesthetics, directly impacting legal compliance, overall building safety, and the long-term performance of the structure.
Cladding choices made at the outset influence:
- Building approval pathways
- Fire safety compliance results
- Insurance premiums
- Long-term building performance
Architectural Design Building for Your Environment
As well as being built to safety standards for the actual scope and use of a building (e.g., high-rise apartments, hospitals, educational science/technology buildings, retail/hospitality spaces), buildings of every kind need to be designed to respond optimally within and to their local environment. For example, projects in coastal environments must account for exposure to salt and elevated corrosion risk. Buildings in alpine areas need to account for the unique challenges of snow loads. Hotter, sunnier climates require heightened protection against the effects of harsh sunlight and UV exposure.
Buildings in areas at risk of bushfire have their own unique considerations over-and-above “normal” fire safety standards.
Bushfire resilience must be top-of-mind from the conceptual stage of building design; this allows materials that both support the design aesthetic and meet safety requirements to be chosen as early as possible. In doing so, timelines, budgets, and approvals are streamlined for a smoother construction and handover process.
Make Cladding Decisions Early!
Failure to adequately plan for fire safety compliance from the outset can lead to expensive, time-consuming, and inconvenient approval delays, a need for redesign, and last-minute changes to materials, or even a requirement for cladding remediation. Planning to use NCC-compliant DtS non-combustible cladding from the outset delivers surety and peace of mind for architects, builders, and building owners.
Australian architects can’t go wrong with Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC/A1. This DtS non-combustible cladding product comprises mineral-core aluminium composite panels; these are among the very best cladding products on the market in terms of fire safety, compliance, durability, installation, design flexibility, aesthetic appeal, and environmental sustainability. It meets Australian Standards for fire safety, is NCC-compliant, and passes Europe’s highest fire safety test.
For commercial, industrial, and high-rise or high-occupancy residential buildings, there is arguably no better choice than ALPOLIC™ NC/A1. It comes with an unmatched 20-year full-replacement manufacturer’s warranty (with no cleaning clause) and is available in a very wide and impressive range of colours, textures, and finishes to suit your unique project. See more
Make your choice early and discover the right non-combustible cladding product for your project today.