MEDITE FR FLAME-RETARDANT MDF INTEGRAL TO 19TH CENTURY ATTRACTION
13th August 2009 - Medite FR
Dickens World - part of the £62 million state-of-the-art visitor complex at Chatham - has been a great success since it opened its doors in 2007. The attraction, themed around the life, books and authentic times of the much loved author Charles Dickens, is at the heart of the regeneration of the Royal Naval Dockyards, now renamed Chatham Maritime.
The educational attraction immerses visitors in the world of Charles Dickens, combining urban streets, sounds and smells of the 19th century with 21st technology, special effects and animatronics as well as in-character live entertainment. Visitors wander freely around imposing streets, tall Dickensian courtyards, alleyways and shops, and a 210 metre ‘Great Expectations' dark boat ride slips through the depths of the sewers and across the roof-tops of old London.
Throughout the attraction, the atmosphere is enhanced by fires burning and flaming in rusty braziers; a design and safety challenge which Medite's FR flame retardant MDF helped to solve. Medite FR was used throughout the attraction as a substrate for construction, including houses, stone-effect walls, archways, faux oak beams and bridges.
Attracting several hundred thousand people since opening and with more coming each year, building regulations for public safety were vital issues and important reasons for using Medite FR MDF. Medite FR (Flame Retardant) Euro Class B & C is an MDF panel developed specifically for use in situations where a Euro Class B or a Euro Class C flame retardant board is required under building regulations. Made using superior wood refining technology and FSC certified, Medite FR panels also met the environmental and sustainability criteria demanded by the development. Managing director, Kevin Christie, says “While it was important for us to ensure the production of authentic storylines and a design which was atmospheric and true to the period, we also needed to make sure we met our responsibilities for the future.”
A 10 minute DVD on Medite FR MDF available from www.medite-europe.com/flameretardant shows the vital importance of using the correctly specified building materials. Copies of the DVD are available free on request and can be ordered online.
