A grade-II listed church in London has undergone a £2m refurbishment, using Pilkington Pyrostop fire-resistant glass.

The Swiss Church, founded in 1762, had repairs to its external facade, new windows and an extended hall to bring the building back in line with ‘its former elegant proportions’.

Partitions in the building were made using Pikington Pyrostop glass, in order to achieve the feeling of a larger space. Visitors can now see the entire church upon entering, and the glass partitions ensure that visitors in the foyer can enter without disturbing the congregation in the main hall.

Pyrostop glass provides impact resistance up to class 1(B)1 to BS EN 12600, the highest performance classification, according to the manufacturers. It has an integrity of 30 minutes in the event of a fire.

Installers Kingswood Specialist Glazing also used Pilkington’s Eclipse Advantage glass; a solar control product normally used outside a building, but employed in this case to increase the light levels in the church.

Brian Byrne, of Kingswood, said, “The Swiss Church renovation was an ambitious project which we were enthused about from the outset. Obviously, the listed status of the building created some challenges but it also provided scope to make some real and beneficial changes to the building. As well as improved use of natural light and fire safety, the acoustic properties of the glass installed between the office and church hall achieved a significant sound reduction.”