After a ‘dummy run’ several weeks earlier the Royal Ascot meeting opened as planned on 20 June 2006 to an impressive wave of plaudits from all sectors. As with so many iconic projects, International Fire Consultants Ltd were yet again associated with this well received project, not as the scheme fire consultants, but as the ‘checking authority’ nominated by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
Obviously, a Grandstand of the design and size of the new Ascot Stand cannot be built in a code compliant manner, a fire engineered strategy had to be developed by the design team, which included a well-known fire consultancy practice. Evaluating strategies is generally within the capabilities of Local Authority Building Control departments, but when the scheme is a prestigious as Royal Ascot, and when the size and monetary value is as great as in this project any Authority will reap the benefit of a second opinion. The checking authorities’ task was to evaluate the complex CFD analysis, amongst the other related issues which Howard Morgan, Paul Harris and their team were more than capable of doing.
International Fire Consultants Ltd were therefore proud to be selected by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to provide that second opinion on such a prestigious project, even more so as it was into this same Borough that Peter Jackman, IFC’s Chairman & Technical Director came into this world xx years ago (don’t ask, just plenty!). Unlike many of the other buildings featured in this IFC ‘News’ section the Ascot Grandstand hasn’t won a design award - yet; surely its only a matter of time before it too joins IFC’s Hall of Fame
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