Pacific Point Apartments

The building

The Pacific Point Apartments building is located in Sydney’s upper North Shore suburb of Hornsby constructed by Parkview Constructions. The building contains 144 apartments dispersed throughout 12 levels, with retail and storage facilities on the ground level. The building is served by 4 basement levels which are configured in a split level arrangement.

The approach

Scientific Fire Services adopted a holistic approach to justify the fire & egress performance achieved by the building which was designed by Collard Maxwell Architects Pty Ltd. The fire safety strategy, alongside liaison with Fire and Rescue NSW, encapsulated rationalisation of Fire Resistance Level’s (FRL’s) within the ground level facilities, fire spread analysis, evaluation of occupant egress performance, analysis of essential fire services and rationalisation of smoke hazard management systems. As part of the fire engineered solution travel distances above traditional prescriptive requirements were permitted as well as the adoption of impulse jet fans to assist mechanical ventilation of the basement carpark levels. Fire safety engineering first principles coupled with radiant heat flux and human movement calculations were utilised to demonstrate that effective fire safety performance was achieved for occupants and fire-fighters.