The specialist sub-contractor undertaking much of the fit out for 26 new industrial units at Ferndown, near Poole in Dorset, put forward the use of the ZEUS Lite™ 90:30 high performance fire barrier, from the range of TBA FIREFLY™, in order to protect all of the suspended ceilings within offices and other ancillary areas.

Vitec Ceilings & Partitions Ltd. is based in nearby Wimborne but works all over the country and has extensive experience of the FIREFLY™ range, meaning its project team had no hesitation in putting forward the well proven ZEUS Lite™ 90:30 to meet the developer’s requirements on both insulation and integrity ratings for the buildings at Bedrock Park on Ferndown’s Vulcan Way.

Project Manager Matt Watkins commented: “At the time of our prestart meeting last October, prior to the start on site, we put FIREFLY™ in front of the main contractor, Howard Russell, in response to the client’s design drawings reference to “Fire Curtain”. They referred it back to the architect and the product was duly confirmed as compliant with all the project requirements.

Our employee who actually installed the ZEUS Lite™ is one of six operatives we have put through the FIREFLY™ training academy: for the “Installation of FIREFLY™ Vertical and Horizontal Barriers. We have a very good relationship with FIREFLY™ and often refer back to them for the supply of bespoke details to meet specific situations. While Bedrock Park is a development of industrial units with office facilities, we have also used ZEUS Lite™ on a very large commercial fit-out project in Guildford in recent times.”

Vitec Ceilings & Partitions is carrying out all of the dry lining, ceiling installations and plastering as well as being responsible for the specialist fire protection work. The new units at Bedrock Park are expected to be completed later this autumn and will offer flexible workshop and administration space for a variety of businesses. The company carries FIRAS, ASFP and other certifications for its work.

For the Bedrock Park project, all the rolls of ZEUS Lite™ 90:30 barrier, along with the well proven FIREFLY™ fixings, including stainless steel staples and fire-resistant adhesive, were supplied to Vitec by CCF of Portsmouth.

FIREFLY™ ZEUS Lite™ is ideally suited to this type of application, comprising a flexible woven fabric fire barrier that has been specifically developed for the vertical separation and compartmentation of extensive concealed spaces within buildings.

By offering 90 minutes integrity and 30 minutes insulation, FIREFLY™ ZEUS Lite™ 90:30 exceeds the minimum requirements regarding fire barriers under the Building Regulations’ Approved Document B (Fire Safety). The specially treated glass fibre fabric is strong and resilient as well as flexible while, crucially, the system’s certification covers the inclusion of service penetrations, which some alternative products do not.