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 This issue, we are featuring a large freestanding fireplace, located in a newly renovated food court in the most prominent mall in Vancouver. The success of the design and construction was the result of careful planning; we allowed for lengthy collaborations between the architects, mechanical engineer, Provincial Gas Safety Authority, general contractor, and our Vancouver Gas Fireplaces team. We provided the supply and installation of the major components of the fireplace and were also involved in all aspects of the design. As with most custom projects, many of the details had to be reworked or added as the job was being done.
Being in a very public unsupervised public space (a busy mall food court), some of the technical aspects needed to be worked out well in advance with the Provincial Gas Safety Authority. One of our primary concerns was heat on the glass surface. To address this, a double glass system was employed with a pressurized flow of air in-between the layers of glass, that eliminated the transfer of heat to the outer layer, rendering it virtually cool to the touch.
With such a large burner system using up to 650,000 BTU's, great care was given to set up a balanced air flow system, so as not to affect the quality of air in the food court. The combustion and makeup air along with the cooling air for the glass is supplied by the powered intake fan located a distance away in the side wall of the mall. The air is distributed through the base of the fireplace by a dampered sealed duct system. The vent top exhaust fan is capable of up to 3500 cfm and is balanced with the intake by a variable speed motor control.
The burner system itself is the placement of a series of back to back burners under steel grates that hold high temperature concrete logs. The burners are covered with silica sand and have vermiculite and rock wool placed on the top of the sand to provide a burning ember/coal appearance under the grates.
The base structure is comprised of a steel frame covered by ledger stone. An access panel was built into the base on one side for servicing the fireplace controls. The curved stainless steel paneled overhead covers the welded steel collection hood, which tapers up into an industrial insulated A vent. The collection hood and the stainless overhead are supported by a steel framework, welded together with steel pieces for an overlaid curved finished look.
This unique freestanding 16' x 4' fireplace provides a vibrant warm central focus to the mall's food court, a space that is typically dominated by featureless banality. Vancouver Gas Fireplaces is proud to have been such an integral player to the success of this project where we created an exciting attractive addition to the food court that offers comfort to the shopper's experience.
Robert Koby owns Vancouver Gas Fireplaces.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces is North America's leading wholesaler and innovator of custom fireplace design and implementation. VGF provides the most comprehensive fireplace website to architects, builders, designers and renovators.
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