Page 30 - Campus Security Today, November/December 2024

F I R E S A F E T Y
FIRE-RATED GLAZING ASSEMBLIES
MODERNIZE ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL HUB
J O N AT H A N E D LY R E P R E S E N T S T E C H N I C A L G L AS S P R O D U C T S ( T G P ) I N T H E M I D W E S T A N D M I D - AT L A N T I C R E G I O N S .
I
n spring 2023, the University of Pittsburgh opened the doors
to a seven-story west wing addition to Alan Magee Scaife
Hall. The medical school building features several updated
lecture halls, labs and classrooms. It also includes team-based
learning and small group rooms as well as an entire floor
dedicated to medical students. This floor is meant for students to
congregate, study and build community.
One of the ways the space helps to facilitate academic community
is through the extensive use of transparent glazing to create an open
and inviting floorplan. For the stairwell, it includes the specification of
code-compliant, butt-glazed fire-rated glass assemblies. This design
is a significant departure from the building’s original floorplan, which
used opaque materials to meet building code requirements. While ef-
fective, this approach obstructed views and limited access to daylight.
Updating the design to include the widespread use of glass
helped the project teams preserve unobstructed sightlines through
the stairwell to each floor. It also preserved views out of the ex-
ternal glass curtain wall—all while maintaining code compliance.
MEETING BUILDING CODE REQUIREMENTS WITHOUT SACRIFICING OCCUPANT EXPERIENCE
Alan Magee Scaife Hall includes features used specifically for open-
ing the field of medical science and practice to the next generation
of medical providers—from labs with augmented and virtual real-
ity capabilities to reconfigurable classrooms equipped with giant
screens and monitors. It also includes design elements meant to
keep them safe while maintaining an open design.
For example, the use of butt-glazed assemblies around the
central staircase allows students to scan each level. The ability of
students to peer into each floor is important both to the ability of
the building to act as a social hub and as a practical means to of-
fer new students intuitive wayfinding within the space. Each of the
building’s seven floors has a different color theme for the walls and
accents. Because students can quickly scan them as they move up
the staircase, they can readily know where they are.
The fire-rated, butt-glazed assemblies maximize visual connec-
tion since they do not have vertical mullions. Instead, they use narrow
vertical butt joints to allow uninterrupted
horizontal spans of glass. They also safe-
guard a path of egress from smoke, flames
and radiant heat.
These fire-rated, butt-glazed as-
semblies support the open and naturally
daylit feel of the lounges immediately
outside the stairwell. With only a narrow-
profile perimeter frame, the butt-glazed
assembly from Technical Glass Products’ (TGP) maximizes the pos-
sible glazing area of the design. This allows the fire-resistant rated
glass to increase daylight access, connect adjacent spaces visually
and meet code requirements for fire and life safety.
OFFERING A COHESIVE DESIGN AESTHETIC
Creating a cohesive look between different parts of a stairwell
can be difficult. For Alan Magee Scaife Hall, the stairwell brought
together several features and materials within a confined space—
the butt-glazed, fire-rated glass assemblies, the handrails and the
exterior glass curtain wall.
The handrail systems include butt-glazed panels with a con-
tinuous handrail. Creating symmetry between this element and
the entrances to each floor, the fire-rated glazing systems support
compartmentalization efforts without compromising design intent.
Likewise, the fire-rated perimeter frame is finished to provide visual
cohesion with the handrail.
SOLVING INSTALLATION CHALLENGES BEFORE THEY APPEAR
While the look of the fire-rated glazing assemblies in Alan Magee
Scaife Hall realizes specific design goals, their ability to meet building
conditions is crucial to achieving both fire rating requirements and en-
suring an efficient installation. The building’s stairwell includes several
custom corner conditions that could have proved challenging without
collaboration throughout the design and installation phases—since
these aspects of the application needed multiple materials and sys-
tems to work together to achieve the right dimensions and conditions.
TGP collaborated with the project design team to fabricate
custom corners that met the floorplan, which was critical to both
the look and performance of these fire-rated glazing assemblies.
The manufacturer also provided the glazier with thorough docu-
mentation of how to install these systems as well as worked closely
with multiple project stakeholders to ensure the material was
phased in a way that supported an efficient and safe installation.
WORKING AS A TEAM PUSHES THE ENVELOPE IN STAIRWELL DESIGN
Today, Alan Magee Scaife Hall functions as both a learning and social
hub. Students can come and go while seeing their peers studying
or relaxing on each of the seven floors, as they work towards their
degree. The fire-rated, butt-glazed assemblies that encase the cen-
tral staircase support the design goal of improved visual connection.
Not only do they contribute to a more occupant-centered
design by improving navigability, but they also supports medical
students in building community—all while maintaining fire- and
life-safety code requirements with fire-rated framing and glass.
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