Renowned specialist fire door manufacturer PWIDF, a branch of Premier Forest Products, has years of experience providing specialist doors to NHS Trusts. When one of the UK’s largest mental health trust needed to replace its fire doors, it was only natural that they got in touch.
Within mental health settings, the need for doors to be fire retardant is offset against their need to be secure, protecting patients and staff day-to-day. An industry specialist is needed to offer their expertise and provide solutions for the most demanding of specifications.
PWIDF was tasked with creating such a solution for the Trust, producing an initial trial door which was further developed to include alarms and fire retardancy.
Lyndon Edwards, Healthcare Doorsets specialist at PWIDF said: “The Trust was under pressure to find a solution quickly and we worked with them to firstly provide a specification, and then source components to fit their exacting brief.
“Following a successful sign-off of the trial door, the project was extended to 14 doors with new top and bottom alarms, with smooth white hygienic PVC facings and an IP rating so the door works even when submerged from a flooded floor.”
For one of the mental health wards, which specialises in caring for acute and psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) inpatients, PWIDF designed and developed a fully alarmed ensuite door that would protect against ligatures from not only the top and bottom of the door but also the jamb side. Eight full doors were installed, and existing doors were upgraded with stronger frames and units.
Following the success of this installation, PWIDF then produced 42 further doors of the same design, but these were adapted for fire certification. Design changes were made to accommodate intumescent and seals where necessary and the doors easily passed the required FR30 (30 minutes of withstanding smoke and fire), reaching an impressive 55 minutes.
PWIDF has exclusive use over the frame design for this complex door, which is the only one of its kind on the market.
Lyndon said: “I am incredibly proud of this project. The innovative designs created a first-of-its-kind product that completely exceeded the client’s expectations. We are especially proud as this was all delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic and against a background of project changes, due to ward shutdowns, schedule rearrangements and supply chain issues.
“We are known locally and nationally for our craftsmanship in manufacturing fully compliant, precision-fit fire doors. The fact that we also supply the accompanying ironmongery, including the hinges and locks, means that we can provide the full solution service, and this project truly exemplifies our ability to go above and beyond to find the perfect specialist door solution.”
