Keywords:

• xylothic conversion
• taiaha
• inclusive Māori carving

     

How are fires fought in high-rise blocks?

The deadly blaze at the 24-storey Grenfell tower block in west London has shocked the UK. Fire services around the world have to deal with blazes in high-rise blocks, so what lessons have been learned?

Firefighters arriving at the scene of a high-rise fire would normally set up a base about two floors below the actual fire, says Bob Parkin, an ex-firefighter turned safety consultant. This allows them to set up entry control points, so firefighters going to fight the blaze can be recorded, and crucially, have their breathing apparatus checked so it’s clear how much time they can spend in a dangerous, smoke-filled area. The amount of time each person can spend fighting the fire is limited by the amount of air available – so any minutes spent climbing up into a building with equipment is precious fire-fighting time wasted. “You’re going to use a considerable amount of air going up the 10 floors, so because of that and various other things, they will set up the control point two floors below the fire,” Mr Parkin says. Once they are able to go in, the immediate focus, if people are reported to be trapped in the building, would be on rescuing them, rather than firefighting, and the firefighters would carry minimum levels of equipment for that reason, he adds. “They will have to fight their way in, in some instances, but they will take chances when people’s lives are at risk, without a doubt.”

But the situation faced at Grenfell Tower in London would have been extremely difficult, Mr Parkin says, because the fire was able to spread so rapidly, and appeared to engulf nearly the entire building. Having to get 20 storeys up to rescue people in that situation “is just unbelievable”, he says. Without extra air supply for the person rescued, the journey back out of the building would be extremely dangerous.The fire brigade would also have had to operate from a very low level in the building because of how far the blaze had spread, and there were concerns that the building might collapse. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40273714 We now asked Bob to look at a small block of flats made from CLT. Surprisingly CLT solid wood elements are more fire-resistant than is generally assumed. CLT panels have a moisture content of approx. 12%. and so if CLT is exposed to fire, and thus to an elevated supply of energy, its temperature rises and the water molecules embedded within start to evaporate at approx. 100 °C. At temperatures above 200-300 °C, these chemical compounds decompose in a process known as “pyrolysis” (whereby gas emissions from combustible components in the wood burst into flame), gradually spreading along the wood, leaving a charring area behind it. This char layer is formed from the carbonaceous residue of pyrolysis, which burns, generating embers. This layer’s properties — in particular, low density and high permeability — act as heat insulation and protect the underlying, undamaged wood. This results in a carbonised surface which protects the internal CLT layers which have not yet been exposed to fire and although in a fire, solid wood constructions become charred on the surface, the process of pyrolysis and the behaviour of wood can actually be predicted (unlike steel or concrete constructions). Through the properties of pyrolysis and the ability to form a char layer, the building material, wood, has inherited its fire resistance from nature itself. By contrast, steel constructions, for example, require additional fire protection measures. The environmentally-friendly building material offers unique features when exposed to fire, which means that CLT elements have a high level of fire resistance.

Clandon Park, a National Trust-run stately home near Guildford, was devastated in a massive blaze on Wednesday April 29 2015.

Clandon calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared and battle come down
Clandon calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
Clandon calling, now don’t look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
Clandon calling, see we ain’t got no swing
Except for the ring of the truncheon thing

The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
‘Cause Clandon is drowning
I live by the river Clandon calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
Clandon calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out and draw another breath
Clandon calling and I don’t want to shout
But while we were talking, I saw you nodding out
Clandon calling, see we ain’t… [morse code S-O-S fade out]

Words: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones (The Clash)

“London Calling” is a reference to BBC reports that were broadcast during the darkest periods of World War II. “This is London Calling,” a voice would say, before delivering the news to people who worried about their very survival amid the most destructive war in human history

Who would have thought cutting slate could be so easy? I start to think a whole generation of architecture students at NCKU Taiwan making slate models. Marvin will make a slate model of our Costa St project, by way of example. 

The tramezzino is a: triangular Italian sandwich with the crusts removed and are popular and inexpensive. The origin of the tramezzino can be found in (Caffè Mulassano) in Turin where I worked for Andrea Bruno Architetto and where I also met both la Juve and Lingotto.  The tramezzino I understand to be a halfway, between breakfast and lunch but also between the triangle and the regular polygon. I like triangles. It reminds me of Polynesia as triangulation in navigation gives 3-point geo-spatial fixity. What happens if we triangulate the fibre cement sheet cladding on our proposal by cutting along the diagonals?

“Look mum, no hands!” Secret fixing is the architectural equivalent of riding your bike with no hands. That’s really not so difficult when actually “Look mum, doing a wheelie” is far more daring. Your hands are on the bike but the bike is being propelled at a balanced crazy angle. Even better is a rodeo-like one-handed wheelie. Trying to implement difficult architectural geometries made me question whether it is then necessary to complicate matters with the economic overlay of secret fixing which often requires curtain walling ‘cassette cladding’ diseconomies to create material strength through extruded depth. One could secret fix though through bonding: a triumph of the chemical over the mechanical. Or is it? How do the insurers / warrantors assess the fixation risk? Mechanical could puncture a waterproofing membrane for example. SuperGlue was promoted when I grew up as ‘one drop holds a tonne’ but these were laboratory conditions promoting tensile not shear strength. And who says the contractor applies the correct amount when cost cutting quantities increases profit? The name’s Bonded, James Bonded? Doubtful when he still uses a mechanically propelled weapon. So let’s keep it simple: a mechanical face-fixed stainless steel screw is relatively low-tech ‘8-bit solution’ for an easy fix without the need for an ‘Approved Installer’> given the affordability crisis affecting house building in London I am convinced this is the way forward.    

“UP HIGH DOLL’S HOUSE” Up High Doll’s House plays with the architecture of the Doll’s House as a means to greater functionality. Doll’s houses were originally luxury hand made items for wealthy adults to demonstrate their fine taste. In many ways, domestic architecture also operates as a luxury device, that is, as a demonstration of status, wealth and societal position. Here at WHAT_architecture we have observed, for example, that the more expensive the kitchen, the less likely the owner cooks. Up High Doll’s House is a full-scale toy. Located at the top of a four-storey terrace house, this project installs a house within a room within a house. Up High Doll’s House is a smaller part of a bigger single-family residence in London Fields. The project’s lofty ambitions exceed its modest budget. Up High Doll’s House questions your age. As a reimagined Doll’s House, it is not only for a child to grow up in but also for a Grown Up to be, well, child-like. A spatially compact, functional house that demands playful engagement and entertainment. The Dolls’ House is also a symbol of gender politics. The Museum of Childhood recognises this by writing that “in the past the (Doll’s) Houses where also used as a visual aid to teach girls how to run a household”. Up High Doll’s House provides an ‘up high’ retreat for the client’s teenage daughter. An autonomous room of her own where she can entertain friends yet still remain under the watchful eye of her slightly nervous father. Her space is under his roof. The project seeks to give the daughter a playful space in which togrow and develop her independence. So we asked: what if her bedroom could be transformed into a self-contained flat? She could then enact being the grown up, cook for her friends, have them stay over, have make-up and henna parties and even her own Netflix home cinema … A 20sqm bedroom configured as a duplex penthouse flat. Accepting the façade is the plane of expression; architectural representation has traditionally privileged the Elevation over the Section. Up High Doll’s House celebrates the architectural section by eliminating any need for the elevation or indeed doors: what you see is what you get! Up High Doll’s House represents a new spatial typology. As in the film Being John Malkovich, which features the absurdity of a half floor (the 71/2 floor lies between levels 7 and 8), the proposal toys with what is considered to be acceptable headroom. With compressed floor to ceiling heights, the conventions of 2m headroom is eschewed in favour of say crawling into bed. © WHAT_architecture 2017. 

New Vallance is a project partnership with Vallance Community Sports Association (VSCA). This project demonstrates Football as Architecture: more than a game. More than a club, it provides for a small East London community that embraces football as an impetus to transformation. ‘Premiership cities’ like London can learn from apparently ‘lower league cities’ like Bangkok: AP Thailand and CJ Worx worked wonders by creating space. As Pirlo would do.  

An unconfigured thought. Today I got a personalised letter from Google. I looked to see where it was sent from. Junk mail as posted spam? Since Google is owned by Alphabet, the world’s 29th biggest company (Fortune5oo 2016), I anticipated a foreign post mark. Google knows enough about me to personalise the approach: global behemoth writes to me: stormy ego whilst I am sitting in a shipping container. I took the office dog, Chiba, for a walk to reflect… GDPR in E2 9EZ.