Fire Rated Glazing

White Framed Glass Doors At V&A Photography Centre

Photography: Jim Stephenson

The V&A Photography centre is in South Kensington London and is the largest space in the United Kingdom dedicated to a permanent photography collection.

During its renovation and redesign in the northeast corner of the V&A, the architects had specified a coloured frames fire rated door with bespoke fittings and handles.

Usually when specifying fire rated doors such as our Mondrian systems we state that the frame colour will be black to properly adhere to the fire rating standard. In this case the in-house design team had to alter the frames to accommodate the white theme that the V&A desired. The white finish matched the interior of the building creating a seamless theme throughout.

The second challenge for the team was to discover a way to create bespoke handles for the glass doors at v&a that would still lead the doors to achieving a fire rating. With most standard fire rated systems the handles are one component that must stay consistent throughout the majority of installations. This is due to the fact that the handle has passed fire rating tests. To overcome this issue IQ realised that if a bespoke handle weighs under 5kg and is bonded to the glass surface, it is then fit for fire rated use.

To fully complete the bespoke fire rated glass doors at V&A, gold finished fittings were manufactured to colour match the handle design. This gives the door a final finish which adds a small bespoke touch to the system.

This fire rated glass door at v&a has completed the white and gold theme of the famous space and has elevated the architectural nature of the building. IQ Projects has worked with custom fire rated doors previously at 80, The Strand. 

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