Pyroguard’s fire safety glass was specified for Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in the in Rotterdam, said to be the world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility, which receives 150,000 to 250,000 visitors a year.
The depot with 1,664 mirrored panels all the way round its circumference the building reflects back the sights and scenery of the Museumpark.
While most museums only showcase around six to seven percent of their collections, visitors to the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen can see the result of 173 years of collecting, with more than 151,000 objects housed together in 14 storage compartments, totalling 15,000 m2 of space.
Pyroguard Protect fire safety glass, with some of the glass panes weighing over 1000kg, was installed throughout the building’s internal partitions, providing 1B1 impact protection and EI60 fire resistance. An Attackguard counterpane was also used, creating a multi-functional composition providing additional security to the valuable museum contents.
The requirement for high levels of fire protection and burglary resistance resulted in a glazing system that had not been tested before the time of specification. As a result, Pyroguard worked with ZNR to design the glazing system and co-ordinate project specific fire tests with Efectis, France to ascertain its performance.
Jorn Jochems, Commercial Director at ZNR, said: “When it came to working on a project of this scale we knew Pyroguard would be the perfect fit, their extensive expertise in the field of fire safety glass and the multi-functionality of their products gave us the reassurance we needed to achieve the unique requirements set out in this project.”
“With the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, it was essential that we had a glazing system that was not only fire resistant but also burglary resistant too, Pyroguard Protect ticked both of these boxes. Pyroguard’s professional and collaborative approach throughout the project proved instrumental in helping us to get the result we wanted and we look forward to working with them again in the near future.”
