Building Separation & Offset

Buildings Separation (the minimum distance between adjacent buildings) and Offset (the minimum distance between building(s) and the nearest zone boundary) values can be customised by the user to improve the outputs of the aggregation. 

The minimum legal requirements for both parameters depend on whether the external wall build-up provides 60min fire resistance from outside to inside (labelled "protected" building in the following), and whether the building is sprinklered.

The values provided below have been determined by our fire engineers based on the glazing area as specified in Modulous' unit library. Additional glazing alteration to our product specification will affect these values. 

The wall build-ups included in Modulous' KoP have been tested and certified for 60min fire resistance by Knauf from inside to outside. By default, we therefore consider the buildings generated in TESSA to be unprotected. Additionally, the façade build-up is outside of our direct product offering, the boundary distances can be potentially further reduced based on a fire engineering assessment of the external wall. 

Buildings above 11m FFL (Finish Floor Level) are legally required to include a sprinkler system in the UK, TESSA automatically apply cost and service areas allowance in such cases. 

• Buildings Separation [single value applied at site level, can be overridden by the user through an input field in the Inspector Panel]
  • 7m for an un-sprinklered unprotected building (default value)
  • 4m for an un-sprinklered protected building
  • 3.5m for a sprinklered unprotected building (default value if all buildings are sprinklered)
  • 2m for a sprinklered protected building
  • 0m if no windows on the façade
• Offset [default value should be applied to all edges of all zones. The user can overrides each individual value through canvas selection]
  • 3.5m for an un-sprinklered unprotected building (default value)
  • 2m for an un-sprinklered protected building
  • 1.75m for a sprinklered unprotected building (default value if all buildings within the corresponding zone are sprinklered)
  • 1m for a sprinklered protected building
  • 0m for an edge along a street