Escalators & Stairs With Fire & Smoke Curtains

Escalators & Stairs With Fire & Smoke Curtains

Both these items create a permanent breach in the compartment between floors. Using DSI Smoke Curtains this can be tackled in several ways depending on the strategy requirements. There is the option of using smoke curtains around the lower level to create a deeper reservoir depth or fully fledged fire curtains to seal off the escalator or stair well completely. In conjunction with intelligent control systems allowing control to be linked to the escalator operation to facilitate escape as well as escape buttons this provides a tested ans well used solution.

SF’s 2nd tallest building is finally underway

SF’s 2nd tallest building is finally underway

A slightly soggy red carpet greeted city bigwigs and developers Thursday, as a morning shovel ceremony finally kicked off construction on what will eventually be San Francisco’s second tallest building.

Mayor Ed Lee promised that rain means good luck on auspicious occasions as he talked the project up as a community benefit and a way to foster closer ties abroad.

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Door Systems launches new website

Door Systems launches new website

Door Systems is proud to announce our newly designed website

Door Systems is the only company to provide code compliant integrated fire doors and fire protection smoke curtains that offer superior aesthetics, high performance and up front cost savings while bringing long term value to the customer.

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Why Are Smoke & Fire Curtains Important For Elevator Doors?

Why Are Smoke & Fire Curtains Important For Elevator Doors?

Elevator shafts are a permanent compartment breach with the potential to spread flames and smoke vertically through a building very rapidly. While most, if not all elevator doors provide a degree of fire integrity this is not the same for smoke sealing.

DSI Smoke & Fire Curtains are able to offer a recognized “Smoke Seal” curtain that can be discretely installed into the surround facing the elevator door, rendering the curtain invisible when retracted. Once deployed it permits a greatly reduced level of smoke leakage falling inside the international leakage requirements.

$1 Billion Mega-Project, New Renderings

$1 Billion Mega-Project, New Renderings

The $1-billion development will bring three new towers to the Los Angeles skyline, including a 677-foot hotel spire that will contain two separate pool decks, 184 hotel rooms, and some number of the total 504 condominiums to be located on the 4.6-acre site.

The two neighboring, 40-story towers will contain the remaining condo units and will share a rooftop amenity terrace that will the complex’s 100-foot-tall podium of retail space. The podium, dubbed The Collection at Oceanwide Plaza, will be laid out as an indoor-outdoor, multi-level pedestrian mall and is to contain 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

Read full article here and see more renderings

106 Downtown LA Projects in Development

106 Downtown LA Projects in Development

DTLA – Maybe it’s the turbo-charged national economy. Maybe it’s the Los Angeles housing shortage that has caused both rents and home sale prices to spike. Maybe it’s the pressure developers face of trying to launch a project before voters cast ballots on Measure S in March. Maybe it’s all of the above.

Whatever the case, the Downtown Los Angeles development scene is busier than ever, and has surpassed pre-recession peaks. Everywhere you look in the Central City, there are cranes and construction workers (not to mention closed streets and sidewalks) building new high-rises and landmarks.

In the last five months, developers have announced more than a dozen projects, from a reimagining of the Southern California Flower Market, complete with a residential tower, to the Olympia, a three-pronged South Park high-rise that would create more than 1,300 apartments. These occur as other long-awaited developments near the finish line: In the coming months, projects including the Wilshire Grand replacement and Los Angeles State Historic Park are scheduled to open.

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Protected Means of Escape with a Fire & Smoke Curtains

Protected Means of Escape with a Fire & Smoke Curtains

When considering the placement and provision of a protected means of escape protection from fire and smoke are the paramount consideration. Traditionally a protected means of escape would be along a brick or concrete corridor. However, it may be that the building design does not lend itself to permanent, structural barriers. Using DSI Fire Curtains it is possible to provide a protected means of escape that, when not in use, is retracted into the ceiling allowing for an unimpeded open area.

The length of this escape route is potentially infinite utilizing DSI’s overlapping roller technology. The reduced irradiance of heat, combined wiht the reduction in temperature and the prevention of smoke egress that a DSI Curtain provides, allows the construction of an insulating zone in accordance with current smoke & fire legislation standards.

LAX Approves $900M New Terminal

LAX Approves $900M New Terminal

Airport commissioners unanimously approved construction of the northern half of a midfield concourse west of the Tom Bradley International Terminal , which is undergoing its own expansion and renovation.

07/22/2014
Los Angeles Times (CA)

July 22 –The modernization of Los Angeles International Airport continued Monday with the approval of a new $900-million terminal that will add gates for wide-bodied aircraft and help eliminate a major inconvenience for travelers.

Airport commissioners unanimously approved construction of the northern half of a midfield concourse west of the Tom Bradley International Terminal , which is undergoing its own expansion and renovation.

Commissioners also certified the project’s environmental impact report and approved a three-year, $50-million contract for Skanska and W.E. O’Neil . The joint venture will provide pre-construction services and construction management.
The project will add gates for the largest jetliners in service and eventually eliminate the airport’s remote gates that require passengers to deplane into the open and take buses to the Bradley’s immigration, customs and baggage claim areas.

“We need more wide-body contact gates. We just can’t deliver them fast enough,” said Gina Marie Lindsey , the executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX.

Fire & Smoke Rated Curtain System Applications

Fire & Smoke Rated Curtain System Applications

While we have discussed the benefits of fire and smoke curtains in the past when referring to fire and smoke protection options for atriums, it is important to note that fire and smoke curtains have a wide variety of other applications as well.

Fire and smoke curtains are a safe, effective and cost efficient means of providing protection from fire and smoke in the following situations:

  • Elevators: Elevator shafts usually open to all floors in a building, and in the event of a fire, these shafts can spread dangerous smoke throughout various levels making the safe evacuation from upper floors difficult. Fire and smoke curtain systems that are placed strategically at the opening to each elevator entrance can help to prevent the spread of smoke through the shaft.
  • Stairwells: Buildings with upper floors are not only equipped with elevators, but with stairwells as well. In the event of a fire, stairwells serve as the best means of escape for occupants of upper floors. Stairwells that are filled with smoke are not only difficult to maneuver but they are also unsafe. The use of fire and smoke rates curtains can help contain the spread of fire and smoke throughout stairwells, making it safer for individuals to evacuate.
  • Openings in Walls: Fire and smoke barrier curtains can provide a more modern and visually appealing alternative to load bearing walls, fire doors and fire shutters in areas where there are large openings in walls.
  • Large, Open Spaces: Fire and smoke rated curtain systems can provide compartmentation in large spaces, containing dangerous smoke and fire to a single section in order to protect merchandise and provide a safe refuge for occupants.

The installation of fire and smoke rated curtain systems can not only help to contain the amount of damages to your building and merchandise, but fire and smoke barrier curtains can help to protect your building’s occupants as well.

Marriott’s New Downtown Project Is Two Hotels in One

Marriott’s New Downtown Project Is Two Hotels in One

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Despite the development boom underway in Downtown Los Angeles, tourism officials regularly complain that the city suffers from a shortage of hotel rooms.

The formal debut this week of a 23-story, 393-room Marriott hotel tower won’t quell those concerns, but area boosters do see it as a small but significant step toward fulfilling the demand.

A grand opening ceremony will be held on Tuesday, July 1, for a $172 million project that holds both a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and a Residence Inn in a single building. It is the first ground-up hotel project to open in Downtown since the 2010 arrival of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels at L.A. Live.

The dual approach is evident throughout the building at 901 W. Olympic Blvd. (where guests actually started checking in this month). Although the hotels share a lobby, the hallways leading to the guest rooms are visually split in two: The Courtyard half of the floor features a lively orange design theme, while the Residence Inn side holds a purple palette. Each side has distinct lighting fixtures, art, carpet and other touches.