Sydney Opera House – Smoke Extraction Duct Protection

Take a look at how the Trafalgar worked with the Sydney Opera House Trust to ensure compliant fire protection to ducts.

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Project Overview

In August 2022, Australia’s famous Sydney Opera House completed a major upgrade of its Concert Hall. The works focused on improving the acoustic performance and updating key technology throughout the space. As part of the upgrade, the smoke extraction system hidden inside the building’s sails also needed a full fire-safety upgrade. This involved protecting large sections of ductwork that sit high above the hall and run through tight, hard-to-reach areas of the structure.

Challenges

• Some of the smoke extraction ducts were extremely large, reaching up to 3 metres wide, which made fire protection more complex.
• Access inside the top sails was very limited, with narrow walkways and irregular shapes to work around.
• Multiple trades were active in the same areas, meaning installation needed to be coordinated carefully to avoid delays or damage to the building’s delicate finishes.
• As a heritage site, all work had to be carried out with extra care to protect the structure.

Solution

Understanding the complexities of working within a heritage structure, Trafalgar Fire’s engineers and system specialists provided dedicated on-site support to ensure compliance and installation accuracy:

• Our engineers reviewed the size, shape and location of the smoke extraction ducts and confirmed how FyreWrap® Elite 1.5 could be installed safely without adding unnecessary weight or affecting nearby structures. 
• FyreWrap® Elite 1.5 was installed neatly around the large duct sections without any mesh or heavy framing.
• It’s easy-to-handle nature meant installers could work more safely and efficiently in the constrained environment.