Summary
Completed in 2019, Principal Tower at Principal Place is one of the tallest residential buildings in London at 50 storeys. Principal Tower provides a distinctive addition to the skyline of Shoreditch – a very popular and culturally rich area right next to the City of London.
The Project
Clark Door was approached by the design architect who wanted to create an impressive reception and main entrance area with an almost seamless transition into the lift lobby.
The lift lobby needed to be separated from the reception area to the building by a 60-minute fire rated door. The structural opening was over 2m wide x 4.5m high, which for a swing fire door is very large. Clark Door were appointed based on their experience and fire certification portfolio for oversized doors. A solution of an additional fire door hidden as a curtain or shutter would not have worked, as the doors also needed to permit egress when they are in the closed position, in order to allow people to be able to open the door easily and exit safely in an evacuation.
An added design challenge was that to achieve the seamless aesthetic transition between the lift lobby and the reception area, the doors needed to be clad with the same material as the walls of the reception and lift lobby. This included a ‘Almond Gold’ capping, which added weight to an already very substantial door. Clark Door, in conjunction with the Architect’s exacting standards, enhanced the door design to mitigate the weight increase of the door.
Clark Door worked with our client on a design which allowed the door to be recessed into the wall build up, so that during normal operation the door remained open, flush with the finished wall for the Architect’s desired concealed aesthetic. When activated by the Building Management System (BMS), the doors automatically close and divide the lift lobby and reception areas into separate fire compartments.
‘’The exceptionally large bespoke door manufactured by Clark Door is one of our most notable achievements on the project. When we show clients around Principal Place, we show them this door first.’’ Project Manager – Principal Tower
