Expected to be the largest built environment product testing facilities in the UK when it opens in 2025, Warringtonfire has announced its plans to open a new $30 million fire testing and certification facility in Warrington, UK.
The new facility is expected to create 50 new jobs and provide fire testing, technical and certification services.
The new fire testing facilities are expected to open in 2025
The move follows growing demand for product testing, says the testing and certification provider. This is due to increasing regulatory requirements, the introduction of additional standards, the rising importance of third-party certification and product assurance as well as the need for shorter testing lead times.
The new facility will represent an almost 80% increase in size over its existing facility in the region and is expected to triple Warringtonfire’s testing capacity in the medium term.
The new facility, which is being built at Birchwood Park near Warrington, will include eight fire resistance testing furnaces, comprising three horizontal and three vertical furnaces (designed to evaluate the fire performance of different products or assemblies built either horizontally or vertically), and two indicative furnaces (which provide a very focused testing method to quantify the ability of a material or assembly to withstand exposure to high temperatures).
The new facility will also provide larger preparation areas to improve workflow as well as higher quality and more accessible customer reception and viewing areas.
In line with the commitment to be more sustainable, the new facility will implement extensive measures to reduce energy use, maintain air quality and potential environmental impacts, including built-in recycling systems, energy-efficient fans, plus smoke & odour capture and treatment.
Jason Dodds, VP of Warringtonfire, said:
“Our new fire testing facility in Warrington is a major investment in the region and a statement of our ambition for the business. We are excited to be expanding into Birchwood Park and undertake our essential product testing in this state-of-the-art business park.
The new facility will significantly improve Warringtonfire’s testing offering for our customers, providing a faster and more wider ranging service, as well as expanded access to technical excellence delivered by the foremost experts in the fields of fire testing and certification.
It will solidify our position as the go-to partner for fire testing and related services and broaden our ability to serve customers across the value chain. Using best in class building design and new technology, we will also be able to greatly improve our environmental footprint, which is incredibly important to us as a company and is becoming increasingly important for our customers.”
Warringtonfire’s existing facility will continue to operate at full capacity while the new facility is under construction. Following the transfer of fire resistance testing to Birchwood Park, part of the existing facility will be used to create a centre of excellence for reaction to fire testing, which are smaller scale tests including spread of flame and heat release.
Construction of the new 101k sq. ft. facility has begun and is expected to be completed in 2025. The total investment in the new facility will be circa $30 million.
Warringtonfire also upgraded its fire and smoke testing capabilities at its High Wycombe facilities in 2021. Investment included new smoke leakage testing equipment, re-lining of two test furnaces, and installation of a new cold abatement system to extract test fumes from the fire laboratory department.
The designers were TP Bennett Architects and Hoare Lea and construction is being managed by Arcadis with Tilbury Douglas as the principal contractor carrying out the works.
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