St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School was originally constructed in the 1960s. Recently, fire safety upgrades were identified as necessary to ensure the school is compliant and that students and staff feel safe.

Munday & Cramer conducted detailed condition surveys to establish the full extent of the fire safety compliance issues.

The fire doors throughout the two-storey teaching block were still the original doors. These original doors were now 70 years old and had been condemned by independent fire safety officers during their assessment. Every internal door in the affected area showed dangerous gaps around the frames, missing the intumescent strips and smoke seals that are fundamental to fire safety. The glazing within these doors wasn’t fire-rated, presenting a risk of shattering in fire conditions.

Internal walls had been constructed using fibreboard and plasterboard alone, materials that offer very little resistance to fire spread. In the event of a fire, smoke and toxic fumes would be able to travel through ceiling voids and wall cavities, rapidly affecting other areas of the school.

Our project management strategy focused on minimising disruption to education without compromising on the safety of pupils and staff during the works themselves.

The fire door replacement programme required every condemned door to be replaced with fully certified FD30s door with each doorset being certified, with fire-rated glazing where vision panels were required, properly specified intumescent strips and smoke seals that would function correctly in the event of a fire.

After months of intensive work by HW Wilson and their specialist subcontractors, the upper level of the building has been brought into full compliance with current fire safety regulations.

With the first floor complete and operational, the project focus has shifted to the ground floor spaces. HW Wilson’s site team has established a clear working area, with appropriate site segregation to ensure pupils and staff can move safely through the school while construction works continue.

The scope of ground floor works mirrors that of the first floor: complete fire door replacement, installation of fire compartmentation where none existed before.

The successful delivery of Phase 1 works allows the school to address remaining fire safety concerns on the ground floor.

Phase 2 planning is already underway and our contractors are already onsite making the necessary improvements.