For shopping centre and mall projects
Clear smoke from the mall, keep every level tenable
A fire in one unit can fill a covered mall in minutes. We supply the extract fans, AOVs, curtains, dampers and controls that hold escape routes open on every floor.
Before you specify
Seven questions you ask. Seven straight answers from us.
A covered mall pulls together shop extract, mall extract, smoke curtains, make-up air and often a car park underneath, all on one cause and effect. Here are the seven questions we get asked before anyone specifies, with straight answers.
You ask
Which standards apply to a covered shopping centre scheme?
Our answer
Approved Document B sets the functional requirement, BS 7346-4 covers the smoke and heat exhaust design and reservoir calculations, and the kit is certified to the relevant parts of BS EN 12101. Any car park below works to BS 7346-7.
You ask
Can you supply the whole scheme from one place, not five suppliers?
Our answer
YesMall and shop extract fans, smoke curtains, low-level make-up air, AOV roof vents, dampers and the O Range control panels all come from us on one order, plus the car park system beneath if you have one.
You ask
Do you handle the low-level make-up air, or just the extract?
Our answer
Both. Mall extract only works if replacement air comes in low and clean, so we size and supply the make-up air path alongside the extract to keep the smoke reservoir stable under BS 7346-4.
You ask
There's an underground car park below the retail. Can you cover that too?
Our answer
YesWe supply and control the car park smoke and impulse ventilation to BS 7346-7 on the same project, and coordinate its cause and effect with the mall system above so the two don't fight each other.
You ask
Will you do the smoke reservoir design and cause and effect, or is that on us?
Our answer
We give design support on reservoir sizing, curtain drop lines and extract rates to BS 7346-4, and write the cause and effect that ties shop, mall, curtains and make-up air together. Your fire engineer signs off the strategy.
You ask
Can you commission the full system across shops, mall and car park?
Our answer
YesWe commission the lot to BS 7346-4 and BS EN 12101, prove the reservoirs, curtain drops and extract in sequence, and hand over records you can put straight in the building safety file.
You ask
Will the smoke system coordinate with the fire alarm, sprinklers and BMS?
Our answer
YesO Range takes the fire alarm zone signals, drives the right extract and curtain response per zone, and interfaces with the BMS for monitoring without letting day-to-day building controls touch the life-safety function.
The challenge
Retail smoke control is a shared-space problem
Covered centres put big numbers of unfamiliar people across trading floors that all connect. A shop fire becomes a mall problem fast, so the smoke strategy has to protect every occupied level, not just the unit that's alight.
Smoke crosses into shared space
A fire in one unit doesn't stay there. Smoke pushes into the mall within seconds and threatens people two floors from the seat of the fire.
Crowds who don't know the exits
Shoppers aren't staff. Escape routes have to stay clear and visible long enough for unfamiliar people to get out.
Long, connected escape routes
Open malls link dozens of units across several levels. Every occupied floor has to stay tenable, not only the fire floor.
Make-up air gets forgotten
Extract only works with replacement air at low level. Miss the inlet path and the fans can't move the design volume.
A car park underneath
Many city-centre centres sit over an underground car park with its own smoke and daily ventilation duty under BS 7346-7.
The ventilation approach
How mall smoke systems are built
Most covered schemes clear smoke at mall level. It spills out of the shop, banks up under the roof and gets extracted there, backed by low-level make-up air and, where needed, shop or balcony extract. We supply the fans, AOVs, louvres, curtains, dampers and O Range control panels to build it.
Mall extract
Smoke spills from the shop into the mall, collects under the roof and gets pulled out by mechanical fans or roof AOVs. The most common approach on covered schemes.
Shop and balcony extract
Smoke is taken straight from the unit or the balcony edge before it reaches the mall. Sized to BS 7346-4/5.
Low-level make-up air
Every extract system needs replacement air at low level, through louvres, actuated windows or dedicated inlets, or the fans starve.
Car park smoke ventilation
Schemes above an underground car park need their own smoke clearance and daily fumes ventilation to BS 7346-7, often on jet fans.
Who you are buying from
Since 1988. Stock on the shelf. Engineers on the phone.
Talk to us
Get the smoke strategy priced
Tell us the scheme, the design approach and the standards you're working to. We'll help spec the fans, AOVs, curtains, dampers and controls, and get a quote back to you.