Sprinkler system a first for Toronto
TheStar.com - living - Sprinkler system a first for Toronto
March 01, 2008
Valerie Hauch
TORONTO STAR
The fact that it will be Canada's first fully-sprinklered highrise condominium in Toronto might give the third phase of the downtown College Park condo project an Aura – which happens to be its official name – of fire invincibility.
But of course that would be overstating things for Aura at College Park, which has an expected construction start date of about June 1. Sprinklers can't prevent fires in highrises but they can sure help "keep a fire under control and give people a chance to escape,'' says Frank Lamie, deputy chief in charge of fire prevention and education for the City of Toronto.
He welcomes the decision of Canderel Stoneridge to install the approximately $2 million system in the condominium to be built on the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard Sts. It is expected to be a minimum of 75 storeys with 950 units "so far,'' says Michael La Brier, president, Canderel Stoneridge Equity Group Inc., who explains that the sprinkler system cost works out to be about $2 to $3 per square foot and the building will be about one million square feet.
Putting a sprinkler system in a residential highrise does cost significantly more than a conventional setup – involving smoke alarms and a "pressurization'' system of ducts, fans and ventilation – says La Brier; but it was seen as feasible in a project of this size. With the use of sprinklers, some of the capital costs in conventional pressurization can be reduced, he says.
"It was the right decision to make,'' says La Brier.
It was timely, too.
Premier Dalton McGuinty recently went on the record as saying that new highrise apartments could soon be required to install sprinkler systems. Since 1995, 89 people have died in residential highrise fires in Toronto alone, according to the Ontario Fire Marshal's office.
The current conventional system in highrise residential buildings is "designed to keep stairwells clear of smoke ... but it doesn't help people in a suite," Lamie says.
La Brier says, though, that the down side of sprinklers can be "property damage'' if, for instance, there is vandalism.
The decision to put sprinklers in Aura at College Park should not be considered a trend for all future condo projects, he says, because there is still debate whether sprinklers are better in every situation.
"It's not fire that kills, it's smoke that kills," says La Brier. He acknowledges, however, that sprinklers will be a selling point for some buyers at Aura at College Park and it will also mean lower insurance costs for residents once the building is built. Preconstruction prices for units start from the low $200,000s for 500 square feet.
Lamie says firefighting officials would like to see sprinklers in "all new residential properties."
Smoking and cooking – which take place in all residential buildings – are high on the list of primary fire causes, he says. The water damage from a sprinkler is much less than the water damage from fire department hoses, he points out. And while today's highrises are made of steel and glass, "it's the furnishings that burn.''
Aura as approved would be 243 metres tall. Toronto Fire's vehicle ladders can extend about 30 metres, Lamie says, but – depending on the situation and obstructions – can't always get close enough to a building to make full use of the height.
No tents or sleeping bags yet? And where is that girl from Yonge and Bloor who took the roll call every four hours?
