Developed by McAleer & Rushe, the South West Lands, Wembley building will stand 18 storeys tall and have more than 180 residential units when completed. The development faces a number of fire safety challenges due to its size, particularly the Fire Bridgade’s ability to reach the high-rise apartments (not to mention the high-rise residents’ ability to leave the building).

Another concern is the building’s residential status itself. Since residents could theoretically engage in all manner of high-risk activities inside their apartments, the risk of a fire breaking out in the building increases.

MSA have been brought on by McAleer & Rushe to develop an effective fire safety strategy for South West Lands, Wembley. Using smoke modelling, we’ve been working on developing safety systems that could clear out smoke in the building’s corridors if a fire broke out in an apartment. Our goal is to have the systems keep smoke density low enough that people can still see down corridors and make their way out of the building. We are also working to balance fire safety concerns with building security concerns.