- June 17, 2026
- Posted by: fireexperts
- Category:
Heritage & Listed Buildings Heritage Fire Door Remediation - 114 Chancery Lane, The Law Society
The building
One of London's most distinguished legal addresses
114 Chancery Lane — home to The Law Society of England and Wales — is one of London’s most distinguished legal addresses. Listed by Historic England as a Grade II building, its interiors contain irreplaceable Victorian and Edwardian joinery, including a collection of substantial hardwood fire doors spanning multiple floors.
On the night of Saturday 1 February 2020, during the Junior Lawyers Division annual chair’s dinner, a fire broke out in the upper floors of 114 Chancery Lane. Twenty-five fire engines and around 150 firefighters were deployed; the roof and portions of the third, fourth and fifth floors sustained significant damage before the blaze was brought under control on Sunday morning. The £7.5 million restoration that followed was one of the most significant post-fire heritage reconstruction projects in recent London history.
Location
114 Chancery Lane, London WC2A
Heritage status
Grade II Listed, Historic England
Client
Ratings achieved
Notional FD30 & FD60
Our appointment
Specialist contractor for the full door programme
Faithdean PLC — a principal contractor of deep expertise in complex heritage refurbishments and post-fire reconstruction — was appointed to lead the comprehensive restoration programme. Faithdean engaged Fire Door Experts Ltd as the specialist contractor on this project, contracted to supply and fit all internal doors across the building — to include the critical heritage door remediations.
It was Fire Door Experts who introduced Jerry Quayle & Associates Ltd (JQA) — specialist independent fire door assessors, members of AFDI and the Fire Protection Association — to Faithdean as the expert consultants best placed to assess and prescribe a sympathetic remediation pathway for the retained heritage doors.
JQA conducted a rigorous site-specific technical review of every retained door set, applying the principles of the Passive Fire Protection Forum (PFPF) Industry Standard Procedure, guided by BS ISO/TR12470-2:2017 and EN15725:2023. Working directly and precisely to JQA’s prescribed programme, the craftsmen of Fire Door Experts Ltd then carried out every aspect of the works — treating each door as a unique conservation challenge, not a production exercise.
The remediation programme
Two door types - five areas of intervention
JQA’s inspection identified two principal door types across the schedule: Oak Heritage Doors (required FD30 and FD60 ratings) and Sapele Doors (required FD30). For each, a bespoke remediation specification was prepared — addressing glazing, panel construction, intumescent sealing, hardware, and frame gaps individually.
Fire-rated glazing replacement
The original 6mm Georgian Wired glass (BS EN1260 2B2) in the Grand Staircase oak doors was upgraded to 7mm Pyrodur Plus 30/104 (Certifire CF328, Pilkington). The FD60 Sapele stairwell door’s discontinued Pyrobel 14 by Glaverbel was replaced with AGC 12mm Pyrobolite (Certifire CF377), restoring full traceability.
Certified hinge & lock replacement
All existing hinges inspected and replaced with UKCA-marked, Certifire-approved hinges with 1mm steel interdens below both faceplates — essential for 60-minute performance. Sash locks and all essential fire rated ironmongery replaced throughout with Allgood architectural ironmongery.
Intumescent seal installation & upgrade
Existing seals removed and replaced throughout. Combined fire and cold smoke intumescent seals installed to FD30 door leaf edges. Rebated drop-down cold smoke seals introduced to bottoms of all door leaves. FD60 Sapele stairwell door received upgraded frame head and jamb seals, fitted centrally in the frame reveal.
Panel upgrades
Oak Grand Staircase doors had 20mm raised-and-fielded panels — oak chars at 0.5mm/min, adequate for FD30. For Sapele: chars at 0.67mm/min, meaning 26mm panels burn through in under 50 minutes — insufficient for FD60. 12mm Sapele FD30 panels burn through in under 22 minutes. Sealmaster FireFace Plus installed throughout, beaded into existing housings.
New door installations
Where original doors were assessed as unable to achieve the required fire rating through remediation and were not deemed to hold significant heritage value, a fully certified replacement was installed in its place.
The outcome
Full passive fire compliance - signed off 6 December 2025
Following a sign-off inspection by JQA on 19 November 2025, the Addendum v2 report dated 6 December 2025 formally confirmed all doors as Notional FD30 or FD60 compliant in line with BS8214:2016 (Timber-based fire door assemblies — Code of practice).
This project stands as a benchmark for what can be achieved when sympathetic heritage expertise, independent technical assessment, and specialist installation craftsmanship work in close collaboration — delivering full passive fire compliance without compromising a single detail of an irreplaceable building.
Our thanks to Faithdean PLC, JQA, and of course special thanks to our amazingly skilled fire door ninjas here at Fire Door Experts.
