FORTRESS Protective Buildings, a Houston-based leader in multi-hazard protection, is supplying a new option for protective buildings to facilities along the gulf coast region.
Companies recognize the importance of keeping their employees safe and have chosen the proven protection of a FORTRESS for its ability to provide multi-hazard protection – blast, fragment, thermal from fire impact, gas ingress (flammable and toxic), and extreme weather.
FORTRESS is working closely with BakerRisk, who is providing Engineering and Design support for the six buildings currently under contract. BakerRisk has engineered a unique design to provide not only blast resistance, but also protection from other catastrophic industrial hazards as well as impacts from extreme weather such as Cat 5 hurricanes and F5 tornados. Using innovative modular construction, FORTRESS buildings are quickly fabricated, shipped, installed, and ready for occupancy.
Clients for the six current building projects find these design characteristics beneficial during a time when building materials and labor markets are volatile, having the confidence in their ability to obtain a turnkey building in a timely manner. The precast reinforced concrete modules for two of the buildings arrived onsite with the building shell completed within two days. These initial buildings are now in the process of internal fit-out with all six being scheduled for completion by early-to-mid 2022.
William Mather, President of FORTRESS Protective Buildings, remarked, “While conducting site visits across the globe, it became clear there was no industry solution for a fast-turnaround, high-protection building that truly protected site personnel from explosions, jet fires, toxic gas, and fragments. It was frustrating to have clients require such a solution but have to wait months or even years to design, engineer, and construct. Living in Houston for over 20 years, the need to protect against severe weather was an obvious added benefit for clients within the gulf coast region – a lesson that I learned personally following Hurricane Harvey. What began as an industry need evolved into a two-year investment to design, build, and test this solution. Within the past year, this idea has developed into FORTRESS - a new market option that has US owners and operators excited for a resilient and sustainable hazard resistant building option.”
FORTRESS’s current projects show the versatility of the building functionality with designs ranging from a small guardhouse to a large Shelter-in-Place/Safe Haven. Regardless of building function, if you want to protect your personnel from industrial hazards, FORTRESS is the newly available solution for your employees.
About FORTRESS
At FORTRESS Protective Buildings, we believe that employees are a company's greatest asset, which is why our product and our safety culture are designed to protect the people inside the building rather than focusing only on a building’s structural response. FORTRESS Protective Buildings are blast resistant buildings constructed from modular components that provide design flexibility as well as multi-hazard protection from fragment, overpressure, thermal, toxic, and extreme weather events. To learn more, visit FORTRESS at www.FORTRESSProtectiveBuildings.com or send us an email at ContactUs@FORTRESSProtectiveBuildings.com.
About BakerRisk
BakerRisk is an international consulting firm with offices in the US, Canada, and the UK providing our clients with cost-effective solutions to manage their hazards and risks from jet fires, vapor cloud explosions, flammable and toxic releases, and blast damage. For over 35 years, BakerRisk’s dedicated personnel and superior expertise has provided the highest quality of technical risk management services, and we are especially proud to have created many long-lasting business relationships with our clients, some spanning decades. With a large scale shock tube facility for assessing the blast response of structural members and multiple large test sites for full scale jet fire and vapor cloud explosion testing, BakerRisk is continuously expanding its knowledge, software tools, and methodologies. For more on BakerRisk, visit www.BakerRisk.com or LinkedIn.
