News
Editorial
for Parliamentary website (page 2)
The
solution provider
Pensher Skytech (www.pensher.co.uk),
formally two companies, has brought together nearly 20 years of
expertise and lessons learned in protective glazing systems. Pensher
specialised in vandal resistant door sets, particularly in inner
city areas, whereas Skytech focused on architectural glazing,
such as curtain walling, screens and fire resistant doors. And,
due to contracts that Skytech won in Northern Ireland during the
troubles, the company acquired a reputation for working with security
forces in the design and manufacture of bomb resistant glazing
systems for police stations and army buildings. Through the merging
of Pensher’s and Skytech’s knowledge bases the company
is now able to apply tried and tested high performance glazing
solutions, including aluminium or steel frames for bomb blast
resistance, fire resistance or vandal protection, or appropriate
combinations of all three, for whatever the risk analysis that
a building or installation requires. Pensher Skytech is considered
to be at the performance end of its market and the company’s
more recent clients include, Heathrow Airport, Terminal One, Edinburgh
and Glasgow Airports the UK MoD (Ministry of Defence), Metropolitan
Police HQ Scotland Yard and the London Ambulance Control Room.
The solution
Fitting security film over existing glass can be a useful precaution
for many businesses. However, Pensher Skytech has extensively
examined the effects of explosions and has developed a system
of windows, doors and screens, which through intuitive design
actually reduce the damage to people and property in the “zone
of devastation.” Whilst bomb resistant toughened and laminated
glass is part of the solution, Pensher Skytech has recognised
that the framework structure of the fenestration system must be
enhanced too in order to absorb the forces of the blast. And,
for this to be effective, particular attention must be paid to
the edge cover of the glass and to the design of the beading.
The company has spent many years developing and exhaustively testing
its bomb resistant glazing system with an enhanced aluminium frame.
Working with the UK Home Office, the Pensher Skytech tilt and
turn window sample was exposed to a typical bomb blast, which
was well within the “zone of devastation.” The impact
subjected the sample window to several atmospheres of pressure.
Nonetheless, the glass panels remained in place, thus reducing
the impact of the blast to the inside of the building, whilst
the anti spall layer on the inside of the glass ensures that anyone
sitting on the inside of the building will not be showered with
glass. Therefore, workers protected from Pensher Skytech’s
system in the “zone of devastation” should be able
to return to work very quickly; a modified version of the company’s
system is available to protect against small arms fire.
