Simon Opie on Fire Safety & The Pier

“Because piers are built to Victorian building standards, their weight-carrying capacity is quite limited. When large buildings are built on piers, they tend to be built out of fairly light-weight materials and that almost, by definition, means they are quite flammable. That’s one of the things we’re addressing in our restoration of Hastings Pier. The two buildings we’re building will incorporate modern material and modern fire resistance standards. In order to do that, we’re having to strengthen the structure to carry the extra weight of the building.

“The visitor centre, for example, is built of a material called cross-laminated timber. It’s a timber which is dense and laminated in such a way it might charr but should not immediately burst into flame.”

“We have been in full decision with building control and the fire authorities here and we’re not planning to put sprinklers into our buildings, however, we are providing a dry raiser which will run down to the visitor centre. That will allow the fire bridge to pump water directly to the visitor centre, in the unlikely event of a need. Our strategy is very much around ensuring the buildings themselves are inherently fire resistant”