At Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver, a bold replacement project has delivered not just a modern educational facility but a forward-looking approach to fire and life safety that underscores occupant wellbeing without compromising daylight, connectivity, or architectural expression. The new 193,750-square-foot school, built to replace the original 1960s building, advances multiple district goals, including seismic resilience, code compliance, and student-centered design.

Early in planning, the Vancouver School Board determined that full replacement was the most cost-effective way to meet updated building codes and safety expectations. Like many North American schools of its era, the original structure lacked modern fire and life-safety features. Today’s codes require robust compartmentation, fire barriers, and egress solutions, all of which informed the design team’s material and system choices. At the same time, there was a clear mandate to support daylight access, open sightlines, and intuitive wayfinding throughout the facility, acknowledging how environment influences learning and wellbeing.

To meet these intersecting goals, the project integrated multiple fire-rated glazing systems from Technical Glass Products (TGP), including curtain walls, full-lite glass doors, sidelites and transoms, that satisfy code while embracing transparency and openness. These systems enabled expansive, fire-resistant glass areas that bring daylight deep into the interior, creating vibrant common spaces and visual connections between floors and circulation paths.

Specifically, the design team specified the Fireframes SG Curtainwall Series paired with Pilkington Pyrostop™ fire- and impact-rated safety glass to achieve large, monolithic spans with a consistent external and internal visual language. The curtain wall assemblies achieved fire barriers while maintaining a slim, structural glazed appearance that reinforces the school’s contemporary architectural character.

Throughout the building, the project uses Fireframes Designer Series doors with Fireframes Aluminum Series sidelites and transoms. Door assemblies achieved 45-minute fire resistance, while adjacent curtain wall components reached 60-minute fire ratings, safeguarding egress routes without visually fragmenting the interior. These glazed doors enhance sightlines between stairwells and levels, supporting intuitive navigation for students and staff.

During construction, the project team demonstrated adaptability: a late revision to the fire door hardware, switching from concealed overhead stops to Glynn-Johnson 90 Series surface-mounted door stop systems, required coordination across engineering, fabrication, and field teams to maintain schedule and performance objectives.