The Black Bottle

Background

The Black Bottle is a new wine bar in Winchester, recently converted for the purpose in Grade 2 listed premises in the city’s Bridge Street. Comprising five wine rooms and selling up to 32 different types of wine, it is a unique concept in the city.

The Challenge

The change of use called for improvements in fire safety to meet Building Regulations. However, owing to the building’s age, character and certain structural features, the local conservation officer had imposed restrictions on the extent to which the alterations could be carried out. Added to this was the fact that part of the ground floor served as a means of escape from the rear of an adjacent building.

The project’s architect approached Churchesfire to conduct a survey to obtain a thorough understanding of the building’s nature and layout ... and the conservation issues. The survey identified the following challenges:

• Existing doors were of heritage value and must be retained.
• It was not permissible to alter the underlying structure of walls and floors.
• To meet Building Regulations requirements it was necessary to provide a protected route of escape from first floor public areas and also ensure that floors and walls provided an adequate level of fire protection to prevent the spread of fire.
• The design had to ensure that, upon occupation the building would meet the requirements of The Fire Safety Order 2005.

The Solution

Working closely with the architect and project manager, Churchesfire’s safety engineer carried out a qualitative design review (QDR) to establish the fire safety objectives, identify fire hazards and possible consequences, establish an evacuation strategy and identify acceptance criteria.

The results showed that the differing requirements of fire safety and conservation could not be reconciled by conventional means, so alternative methods would be necessary to comply with Building Requirements. Drawing on extensive experience, the fire safety engineer proposed modern technology to upgrade existing doors and structural elements to provide appropriate fire protection and remain sympathetic to the building’s heritage.

Following a number of revisions, the amended design was subjected to quantitative analysis to verify the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. A fire risk assessment of the design was also carried out to assess compliance with The Fire Safety Order 2005. Submitted for Building Regulations approval, the design was accepted by the Conservation Officer and approved by the Building Control Officer.

This town centre site has been given a new lease of life as an enhancement to local facilities, and the essential features of an historic building for the benefit of future generations have been preserved.