OFR’s 2025 Fire Safety Research: Key Insights and Innovations

Fire Performance of Modern Construction Materials

An important theme of the papers addresses the fire performance of modern construction materials, particularly timber and glazing systems. This includes experimental and analytical studies on the reaction-to-fire behaviour of laminated glass and the performance of CLT.

• M. Spearpoint, G. Remy, I. Rickard, L. Bisby, ‘Reaction-to-fire performance of vertical laminated toughened glass panels with different inter-layer materials when exposed to an external heat flux’, Fire Safety Journal, 56, 104470, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2025.104470
• A. Čolić, F. Wiesner, M. Spearpoint, D. J. Hopkin, L. A. Bisby. ‘Timber structural loads on trial: Design vs. experiments in fire conditions’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025
• C. Gorska and D. Hopkin, ‘A review of factors affecting the self-extinction of CLT compartments based on large-scale experiments’, in Proceedings of Interflam, Royal Holloway College, Windsor, UK: Interscience Communications Ltd., 2025

External Fire Spread and Façade Risk

Closely aligned with the above work is a second theme focused on external fire spread and façade risk, integrating experimental evidence with probabilistic and regulatory perspectives, and linking material behaviour to implications for building design and compliance.

• D. Hopkin, M. Spearpoint, Y. Kanellopoulos, C. Gorska, C. Mayfield, ‘Multi-scale characterisation of the fire hazards of timber cladding’, Fire, 8(2), 35, 2025. doi: 10.3390/fire8020035
• I. Fu, I. Inerhunwa, and D. Hopkin, ‘An improved probabilistic method for assessing external fire spread risk in the UK’, in Proceedings of Interflam, Royal Holloway College, Windsor, UK, 2025
• D. Hopkin, M. Spearpoint, C. Mayfield, ‘The 9 mm magic number and the implications for timber cladding in fire’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025
• M. Spearpoint, K. Chotzoglou, D. Hopkin, D. Morrisset, ‘Representative large-scale tests of a three storey balcony fire incident’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025

Human Safety and Evacuation

A third theme concerns human safety and evacuation, with work examining phased evacuation strategies in complex residential buildings, the application of research to high-rise guidance, and the role of smoke toxicity in life safety assessment.

• M. Spearpoint, S. Gwynne, A. Templeton, H. Xie, C. Nash, ‘Evaluating guidance on fire evacuation from high-rise residential buildings using Dr Rita Fahy’s research’, Fire Technology, 61, 4387–4403, 2025. doi: 10.1007/s10694-025-01756-4
• Y. Xue, M. Spearpoint, E. Ronchi, ‘An examination of phased evacuation in multi-purpose residential buildings’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025
• Rafe, A., Lawrence, P. J., Lovreglio, R., Spearpoint, M. and Singleton, P. A. ‘Enhancing occupant evacuation simulation using LLMs and retrieval-augmented generation’. International Conference on Transportation and Development 2025, American Society of Civil Engineers, Virginia, US, pp. 389-400. doi: 10.1061/9780784486191.034
• A, J., Amos, et al. (2025). ‘Glossary for research on human crowd dynamics – 2nd Edition’. Collective Dynamics, 10, 1–32, 2025 doi: 10.17815/CD.2025.189
• M. Spearpoint, Y. Kanellopoulos, ‘Assessing the toxic contribution of fire smoke from the contents of residential spaces’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025

Building Systems and Regulatory Frameworks

Complementing the technical studies is research on the performance of building systems and regulatory frameworks, including lift shaft air leakage, the legal and economic dimensions of internal timber use, and the application of openBIM digital workflows to fire safety engineering practice.

• A. A. Siddiqui, C. S. Chanthan, P. J. Lawrence, M. Spearpoint, ‘Digital workflows through openBIM for fire safety engineering’, Interflam, Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 Jun–2 Jul, 2025
• A. Basford, A. Turner, M. Spearpoint, ‘Measuring lift door air leakage rates in modern high-rise residential buildings’, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 2025. doi: 10.1177/01436244251325223
• C. van der Pump, E. Scheepbouwer, M. Spearpoint, D. van der Walt. ‘Building law, economics, and the case of internal timber linings’, Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 17(3), 2025. doi: 10.1061/JLADAH.LADR-1279

Summary

Collectively, the publications demonstrate OFR’s strong emphasis on evidence-based evaluation of emerging construction methods, integration of experimental data with regulatory and design practice, and the translation of fire science into guidance relevant to modern high-rise and timber buildings.