The Ritz
As a brand, The Ritz name has become synonymous with luxury and prestige. In terms of fire protection, hotels pose a variety of risks as they often have a large number of residential and commercial spaces in close proximity to each other. The Ritz was sold for £800m in 2020, so it can also be safely assumed that the direct and indirect financial costs of a fire would be significant.
The Ritz
When it comes to service providers, The Ritz can afford to be selective. Therefore, it is a testament to the quality of CLM Fireproofing’s work that they were approached by the project’s principal contractor, SRM, to replace fire doors across the hotel in May 2021 and February 2022.
It is widely known that the main purpose of a fire door is to provide an emergency evacuation route. However, many people may not be aware that they are integral to a building’s compartmentation strategy. If damaged, neglected or misused, fire doors may not be able to prevent flames or smoke from spreading throughout a building in the event of a fire.
This project involved a variety of complicating factors that could affect service delivery. For instance, as The Ritz is a heritage-listed building, our team had to be extraordinarily careful when installing new fire doors so as not to cause any damage.
In particular, our team had to handle two unique circumstances: working through lockdown when the hotel was not in use and then navigating its re-opening. Throughout the latter part of the project The Ritz was fully occupied, so we had to ensure our team did not disturb clients, guests or employees. Our team made a concerted effort not to be loud or disruptive, which at times meant working at night. Ultimately, we were able to successfully replace and upgrade FD30 and FD60 fire doors across the hotel’s kitchens, basements, exits and room doors, without hindering The Ritz’s daily operations.