Ronald McDonald House is a 13 level mixed-use residential building located in the children’s hospital precinct in South Brisbane. It offers temporary accommodation for families with sick children using nearby healthcare services. The development is comprised of retail, car parking, various communal facilities and accommodation.
Wood & Grieve’s fire engineering team were engaged to provide best-practice fire design for Ronald McDonald House. The heavily performance-based design requirements and unique building features necessitated innovative solutions and planning optimisation to ensure a high level of fire safety for the occupants.
The main visual feature of the development consists of a wooden staircase interconnecting four levels of the building. This design feature was made possible through the delivery of performance based fire engineering alternative solutions.
Significant project features include:
- A large residential floor plate including the potential for horizontal egress, a fire safety strategy incorporated due to the building’s increased potential for occupants requiring assistance during an evacuation;
- Sprinkler protected glazing as part of the performance based design to prevent fire spread particularly in the 4 storey staircase void;
- Fast-response sprinkler system to help support the fire safety solution; and
- The unique roof top terrace structural design which achieved significant cost savings through the use of non-fire related steel and implementation of an egress system to negate the requirement for an additional fire isolated stair shaft.
Engineering fire design at Ronald McDonald House in South Brisbane was completed by our experienced Brisbane fire team, who work closely with the wider multi-disciplinary Wood & Grieve team.
