NovoFire® for exterior applications
Transparent structures in completely new dimensions
Werth, January 2019. fire protection doors doors for outdoor use were predominantly subject to functional requirements. Planners achieved the protection of fire protection sections with more or less elaborately designed sheet metal doors. For some time now, a trend reversal has been recognisable, driven by higher aesthetic demands, the desire for more transparency to increase the subjective feeling of safety and, last but not least, increased requirements as a result of denser building development. With the NovoFire® Thermo System products designed for external use, Novoferm also provides elegant and transparent fire protection with the best performance data for this area of application. As one of Europe's leading system suppliers for doors, gates, frames and operators, the company also increases both the range of applications and design options: NovoFire® Thermo tubular frame constructions are available in this segment in frame heights of up to 260 cm.
Stairwells in multi-storey car parks or doors to arcades in large apartment buildings were and are predominantly fitted with sheet metal doors for fire protection; integrated and usually small-format viewing windows were the only design options. Today, however, even sober functional buildings such as multi-storey car parks should also be aesthetically pleasing. Criteria such as openness and transparency are playing an increasingly important role in the subjective quality of stay and in comparative car park evaluations.
Stairwells in particular, which are often cramped, are a source of anxiety for many users because behind the access door they encounter barren and unadorned staircases in cool artificial light. Sheet metal doors are also no longer a contemporary solution for access from stairwells to arcades with doors to a number of flats. Transparency, natural light and tasteful frame constructions are decisive for the acceptance and marketability of residential units. Fire-resistant closures with generous glass surfaces and elegant frame constructions are therefore becoming increasingly important not only in new builds but also in renovations. A third area of application is external doors in areas with dense building development. Fire doors are not only used in building closures designed as fire walls; they are also necessary for exits that are in the direct vicinity of fire walls in neighbouring buildings.
NovoFire® Thermo aluminium fire doors offer suitable solutions for all these different areas of application. They impress with their wide range of sizes. A large number of equipment components that can be combined as required also make them an ideal solution for a wide variety of design approaches.
At the heart of the system are the stable NovoFire® hollow profiles with a wall thickness of 4 mm. A fire protection insulator developed by Novoferm guarantees the 30-minute fire resistance time and ensures the highly thermally insulating properties of the overall construction. With a maximum height of 260 cm and a construction depth of 90 mm, generous, clear passages of previously unknown dimensions are now possible. Thanks to this format option, Novoferm can also provide its customers with proof of particularly high driving rain tightness, as doors with a height of more than 250 cm have to fulfil stricter test criteria. These are easily met by the 260 cm NovoFire® Thermo - and of course also for smaller formats.
With EI₁30C5, the NovoFire® Thermo fulfils the highest requirements in terms of reducing the surface temperature in the event of fire and therefore offers greater safety than required by building regulations. The single-leaf door can also be equipped with the smoke-tight function.
