Our firm has yet again been chosen to share the elite company of the most dynamically growing enterprises in Poland. Polfam has been given a very high ranking in a prestigious list of the best Mazovia-region companies with revenue ranging from PLN 5 m to 50 m, published by Forbes magazine.
Read MoreIn addition to aesthetic values, functional flexibility is expected from contemporary architecture. This is particularly important in commercial buildings for lease or for sale. Manufacturers of construction materials come to designers’ aid, delivering products and entire solutions to facilitate arrangement of such “flexible spaces.” Read More
Producers of building materials try to facilitate work of the assembly teams, and at the same time, very importantly – to minimize the risk of technological mistakes made by them. A good example of applying this philosophy in practice is fire-resistant glass POLFLAM®. This pioneering product has been developed to minimize the risk of damage during installation, while maximizing the safety of people involved in works on construction site. Read More
Technological development presents designers with new opportunities. Architectural ideas, the implementation of which only a few years ago would have been impossible, have become a reality today. Glass-Team Company, specialising in the production of fire-resistant POLFLAM® glass, gradually introduces another solution to the market, giving architects the chance to design freely while economising on investment budgets.
Woodwork manufacturers face increasingly demanding customers and architects. They are expected to deliver both stylish and highest quality products and technological innovations, thanks to which, structures erected will be more attractive for purchasers and tenants in terms of architectural features.
UV radiation is generally known to be harmful to humans. It also causes interior design elements to deteriorate – a good example of that is fading of fabrics. UV radiation may also have an adverse effect on construction elements; however, in this case, the technologists make efforts not to let that happen. Read More
With effect from 1 August 2014, Syntaxis Capital investment fund, managing the funds obtained from the Western European institutional investors, located in two funds of total volume of Euro 250 million became the new shareholder of Glass-Team Company. The capital brought in will contribute to the development of the company and its product – fireproof glass. Paweł Łakomy, director in the Syntaxis fund: “We are impressed by the historical development of the company, its professional management and product range of world-class quality and innovation. We are certain that, POLFLAM brand will continue to develop dynamically in the Polish and European market and we are delighted that we will be able to support Glass-Team in achieving these goals.”
Increasingly office buildings, and sometimes public utility buildings are constructed based on the assumption that particular storeys will then be divided into rooms at a later stage. Every tenant within their own area can organise rooms or work stations for employees according to his/her own needs.
The easiest way to divide space is so-called light partition walls, where a metal frame is covered with gypsum and cardboard boards from both sides. However, such structures prevent light from reaching places located further away from the building’s external walls and windows. Therefore, glazing is placed in them. If this is necessary, this glazing may be made of fire-resistant window panes.
Office transparency POLFLAM brand has developed fire-resistant glazing in the BR system, and to assemble them one does not require any frames or posts. Fire-resistant glass panes are mounted directly in walls, which may be made of any material. They are walls such as: masonry partitions, reinforced concrete walls or so-called architectural concrete that looks like a raw wall, currently so attractive for interior designers, and willingly used in industrial interiors. The BR system may be assembled in light partition walls, although for this kind of partitions an entirely different product has been specially designed. The frameless system is not only aesthetic, but also allows for increasing the area of glazing, and that feature may be really useful. Developers, owners of commercial buildings, tenants, and last but not least, interior designers can use glazing with the height of 3 metres that extends through the entire height of rooms. The size of rooms can also be very large, since particular window panes – with a width of up to 1.5 metres – are joined to form a glazing of any length. At joints one must apply a layer of silicone, and the joint may be covered with an elegant, narrow aluminium profile (30 mm in width). Partitions with resistance of El 30 and thickness of 30 mm or resistance of El 60 and thickness of 35 mm can be made of flat or flexible window panes. They are entirely translucent and it is possible to make them in any colour from RAL and NCS palettes. It is worth noting that paints are applied directly on a fire-resistant window pane with no need to use an additional glass sheet.
BR system from the inside The BR frameless fire-resistant glazing is firmly set in a wall, owing to appropriate assembly elements. Fire-resistant insulation is ensured by non-combustible cooling blocks placed under the window panes and a tape stuck around the glazing, which is expandable in response to high temperature. These features are important for fire resistance, although not very beautiful elements, may be covered with gypsum moulds or aluminium angle bars. The BR system allows for constructing large glazing, which is not limited by frames. It is not unimportant that by applying such solutions one does not need to take into account one more element, i.e. frames, while calculating the resistance of a partition. This system, with simple, almost minimalistic structure, not only allows more light to enter rooms, but it is also aesthetic and cheaper than solutions with frames, and the weight of the entire partition is lower as well. Fire-resistance in EL30 and El60 classes is suitable enough for most applications. The window pane that resists fire and high temperature for half or an hour allows for evacuating people from endangered buildings. Therefore, these window panes are used both for, e.g. marking off zones with different functions, as well as separating escape routes, including corridors, halls and staircases from other parts of a building. The BR frameless system can also be used as filling of structure walls of fire separation with proper load bearing capacity. Such solutions, with the use of POLFLAM fire-resistant glass, are offered by FR Solutions (www.frsolutions.pl). Before long a frameless assembly system of fire-resistant doors in such a wall will be presented.
Ensuring safety in buildings is of the utmost importance, especially in places where a lot of people stay at the same time. One of the main safety issues is proper fire safety that is guaranteed, among others, by the use of proper materials. This includes construction materials, but also glass, which is now being increasingly used in many establishments, in order to replace walls.
The resistance of a single glass sheet to temperature increase is small – after a few minutes it breaks and then becomes completely destroyed. Therefore, all glazed elements of a building where a class of fire resistance is required must be made of fire-resistant glass. There are various technologies of manufacturing fire-resistant glass, and one of them is glass where a layer of special gel is placed in-between glass sheets. One such product is fire-resistant POLFLAM EI 120 glass – which is entirely transparent, since the gel inside does not reduce the translucency of glazing. Whereas, during a fire this gel becomes dull, then hardens, and forms an efficient barrier against flames and a high temperature.
When protection is needed
The legal regulations applicable in Poland expressly state that each building must be designed and constructed in a manner that the spread of flames and smoke in its interior is reduced if a fire breaks out. And, as a result, certain elements of a building, including partition walls, doors and other partitions, must withstand fire thrust and very high temperatures. However, it is easy to imagine that full protection is not feasible; therefore,
a specific building element must withstand a fire for a time period assumed by a designer.
In the case of internal partitions, apart from load bearing walls, two characteristics are taken into account i.e. fire integrity (E) and insulation (I). The resistance of a partition is specified in classes that take into account a time during which a particular element does not catch fire. An average temperature at its surface may not rise by more than 140 °C, and at any chosen place – by more than 180°C respectively. The only question is for how long this element will withstand such an intensive temperature increase. Now we have to get back to previously mentioned classes of fire resistance. In the determination of these classes it is time which is of the greatest importance. El 120 glass must withstand fire for at least two hours – and that is a long time.
It is worth knowing that from the side of a raging fire it is gradually damaged, while on the other side a person can safely come up very close to a window pane. Consequently, people and property are safe; they have time to evacuate themselves from the building or wait until the rescue services arrive. Fire-resistant glass must be manufactured in accordance with applicable laws. Currently, the applicable standard criteria set out for fire insulation is PN-EN 1363 -1 “Testing of fire insulation”. However, before it reaches a customer and a specific building, it undergoes detailed tests confirming its characteristics. POLFLAM EI 120 glass is firstly tested at a factory laboratory, similarly to all its equivalents with a different fire resistance. Here, it is worth mentioning that, as a rule, the time of exposing glass to fire and fire conditions is longer than it is required according to a specific class of glass. The point is that the customer must be sure that the procedure the whole glazing must undergo at a certified testing entity is not open to unpleasant surprises.
At the factory laboratory fire-resistant glass undergoes such tests as those performed later
at a certified testing entity (Photo: POLFLAM)
Window pane as any other?
Fire-resistant POLFLAM El120 glass only slightly differs from a standard double-glazed window pane. Similarly to standard glass it comprises of two glass sheets, a spacer bar and a classic two-step edge joint. However, whereas inside a typical double-glazed window-pane there is air or noble gas, high-temperature resistant glass has a special, colourless hydrogel there. It is this thickness of its layer that is decisive in terms of a time during which the window pane will be resistant to a fire. It is not hard to imagine that a glass resistance degree depends on the thickness of a gel layer, although it is not the only one relation.
In case of POLFLAM EI 120, the thickness of glass is mere 35 mm, and one square metre of glass weighs 57 kg, whereas products of other manufacturers are 52-58 mm thick and weigh between 108 and 122 per square metre respectively. It is an unquestionable ace up the local manufacturer’s sleeve and it gives them a market edge, but also makes them a technological leader in this market segment. The gel thickness – as we have previously mentioned – does not reduce the translucency of glass. The light penetrability ratio reaches 85.5%, whereas a relatively large thickness of a window pane positively affects sound reduction – the Rw ratio (C-1; Crt-4) may reach 45 dB. Moreover, the glass is resistant to UV radiation, contact with water, and ensures a higher class of fire protection: 1/B/1 determined pursuant to PN-EN 12600 standard. Such fire-resistant glazing is also very resistant to mechanical damage. Owing to the use of hardened glass, flexible window panes may be manufactured, and that is another advantage of the technology used by the company. Fire-resistant POLFLAM EI 120 glass has several applications – it is used, among others, in aluminium and steel joinery and woodwork. It may also be used in certain type of walls as frameless glazing (gypsum and cardboard, masonry and others).
With the use of POLFLAM EI 120 glass, company FR Solutions (www.frsolutions.pl) proposes such solutions. They are in high demand by both architects and developers as well as investors because they offer the possibility to construct huge, aesthetic, brilliant and transparent fire-resistant partitions.
1. POLFLAM EI 120 (35 mm) glass for the Aluprof MB-118 EI system was introduced to Technical Approval ITB AT-15-9186/2013, published on 19.09.2013. The report from the EI 120 research is also available in English.
2. Research Report No. LBO – 446/13 for POLFLAM EI 90 (32 mm) glass. The report is also available in English.
3. Research Report No. LBO – 425/13 – Curtain Wall in the MB-SR50N EI 60 system – we’re awaiting the necessary information from Aluprof for the classification entry