Lexington 42.
Sounds like a building you’d send some Chablis or Champagne to in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles? Gated entrance, private swimming pool, celebrities clambering out of extravagant, chauffeured cars?
Perhaps.
Lexington 42 though is in Manchester, a city as ambitious as LA and any other, in its residential and commercial aims.
Unusually, its name is bookended by a number to give some indication of its stature and difference in an area marked with grandeur. It is located at 42 Chorlton Street, an area with a grimy coach station at one end, giving way to more impressive sights, as you drive or walk past Canal Street, Sackville Gardens and approach Lexington 42.
The history of Lexington 42
Built in 1901, as part of Shena Simon College (now a campus at The Manchester College), it has 29 apartments, that is entered through a modest doorway and mailbox area, opening up into wide corridors and high ceilings.
Rental prices, like much of Manchester, are high here, given its central location and exposed brickwork charm and asking prices nudge the £500,000 mark.
Conversion into apartments was completed in 1998 and Block Compliance became their passive fire partners
We are primarily conducting fire door and fire compartmentation surveys and Stuart Walton met and interviewed one of our team, Reece Coulson, a senior passive fire surveyor, who was recorded with two explainers about fire door checks and fire compartmentation that are excellent.
You can see the first below:
In older buildings, of course, fire regulations were not as stringent as they are now. Old mills were, of course, designed as places to work, not live, though cotton mill owners did their level best in places like Ancoats, Manchester, to prevent fire to their cotton products and machinery. Child labour though was common, as were accidents, so don’t view Victorians as fierce advocates for fire safety.
No.
They were protecting their wealth.
With cotton production now a footnote in history in many northern towns and cities, these attractive, vast brick blocks are now desirable addresses. Royal Mill and Walker Mill on Redhill Street, Ancoats, have no places to buy or rent, and Lexington 42 is similarly attractive.
The importance of fire doors
Fire doors are a primary barrier and have to, by law, resist fire spread for 30 minutes, en They have to function properly, have periodic checks and be correctly labelled. They stop the spread of fire and save lives.
Their use is governed by three primary laws, all fairly modern, unlike many period conversions. These are:
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO)
- Building Regulations 2010 – Approved Document B
- Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
We do intend to cover these in future blog posts, on our new website, but points worth noting here, in relation to Lexington 42 and The Old Cotton Mill on Samuel Ogden Street and Wood Street, Liverpool is that fire doors must be certified and fitted with:
- Intumescent strips and cold smoke seals
- Self-closing device
- Fire-rated hinges and hardware
They must never be wedged open unless using a fire-safe system linked to an alarm.
Reece briefly explained to Stuart what a fire compartmentation survey entails too:
What is a Fire Compartmentation Survey?
A Fire Compartmentation Survey checks if a building is correctly divided into fire-resistant sections (“compartments”) to slow the spread of fire and smoke, protecting escape routes and giving people more time to evacuate.
It focuses mainly on:
- Walls
- Floors
- Ceilings
- Doors
- Service penetrations (cables, pipes, ducts)
Why Are They Needed?
- They are a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
- Help identify breaches (e.g., holes, poorly sealed pipes, faulty fire doors).
- Vital for life safety, especially in complex buildings (blocks of flats, hospitals, offices).
Our coverage at Block Compliance Ltd:
We offer expert nationwide coverage of passive fire protection surveys and though it may appear we are very much focused on Manchester and Liverpool, you will see in the near future, our examples stretch to places like Leeds, London and Birmingham.
Led by Richard Dempsey, Block Compliance Ltd are a growing team of fire safety professionals and if you’d like an informal conversation about our services, contact us today.
Our team travels across the UK and, as our name states, we are experts in block compliance – block meaning any building used by people to live and work.
We have two active social media channels too for you to contact us through – Instagram and LinkedIn, along with plans for a new TikTok channel.
