Fire Safety in Heritage and Historic Buildings

Historic and heritage buildings present a unique set of fire safety challenges — and they deserve a specialist approach. At Aries Fire Safety, this is our greatest passion and our deepest area of expertise.

We understand that you can’t simply apply a standard fire safety template to a Grade I listed manor house, a Victorian mill, a medieval church, or a Georgian terrace. These buildings require careful thought, specialist knowledge, and a genuine appreciation of what makes them irreplaceable.

Older buildings often lack the structural features we take for granted in modern construction – fire compartmentation, cavity barriers, non-combustible materials. Timber frames, open roof voids, original joinery, and historic fabrics can all contribute to rapid fire spread if not carefully managed.

At the same time, the installation of modern fire safety systems must be handled sensitively to avoid causing unnecessary harm to historic fabric. This requires close collaboration with conservation officers, architects, and heritage bodies.

We are experienced in navigating these competing pressures and finding solutions that genuinely protect your building while respecting its character and significance.

We take a holistic view of fire safety in heritage settings. Rather than focusing narrowly on alarms and extinguishers, we look at the whole picture: how the building is used, how it behaves in a fire, what the escape routes are, how it is managed day to day, and what a fire would mean for its irreplaceable contents and fabric.

We work collaboratively with your team, your conservation officer, and any other specialists involved in the building, to develop a pragmatic fire strategy that is proportionate, achievable, and truly protective.

Many historic buildings were built long before modern fire safety legislation existed, and have never had a proper fire strategy in place. We specialise in developing retrospective fire strategies for these buildings — comprehensive documents that set out how fire safety is managed across the property. You can find out more on our Retrospective Fire Strategies page.

Whether you manage a country house, a historic church, a listed office building, or any other heritage property, we’d love to hear about it.