What happened?
Last Wednesday, the LFB (London Fire Brigade) received a call at 16:00 regarding a fire at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel in London. It was just a week after the most extensive restoration in the hotels 115-year history had been completed, with renovations including an installation of a living wall. The blaze reached several floors before being extinguished, although firefighters remained at the scene throughout the night. A total of 250 hotel staff and 36 hotel guests were swiftly evacuated, and witnesses described the huge fire as “thick plumes” of black smoke and as having a “horrendous” smell.
So what caused this devastation at the 12-storey historical building?
According to an article on bighospitality.co.uk, the fire was believed “to have been caused by the by-product of arc welding landing on the felt lining of the planting façade”.
Although this is a very rare occurrence, we feel the need to confirm to our customers that the safety surrounding our living wall system is our top priority.
The living wall system
The system used for the living wall at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel was a felt pocket system that did not hold any fire safety standards or provide a natural plant habitat. Conversely, our living wall system is a bespoke modular solution that is based on nature.
Fire Safety Standards
We are the first manufacturer to have invested in a fire safety test on our system and we were awarded Class 1 classification for BS 476: Part 7: 1997 ‘Method for Classification of the Surface Spread of Flame of Products’.
Find out more about our Fire Safety Standard here.
If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to get in touch and we will do our best to answer your questions!
