Inspired by Rome’s Colosseum, Queen Victoria’s extravagant memorial to her husband, the Royal Albert Hall, has recently undergone a sixty three million pound transformation which has doubled its floor area. Since its grand opening in 1873, the hall has gained worldwide fame as a quintessentially British institution, hosting such patriotic events as Last Night of the Proms. The elliptical interior 219ft long and 185ft wide, is crowned by a 400 tonne dome, which at the time of construction was the largest in the World.

As part of the refurbishment, Coopers have installed a Fire Master Automatic Fire Barrier across the entrance to the souvenir shop. The barrier is retracted into a concealed housing above the ceiling and is only deployed if there is a fire in the souvenir shop or for testing purposes. Close liaison directly with the hall management ensured a smooth and successful installation. A 2 hour Fire Resistant material was used for this project, to ensure ample time for escape, containment and for fire fighters to address any fire that is trapped behind the curtain.

All Coopers’ Automatic Fire and Smoke Barriers are Gravity Fail Safe, which means that they will automatically deploy even when there is mains power failure or cabling corruption.

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