What is the “Right Answer” to Your Building Siting Question?

Dr. Kelly Thomas , June 1, 2023

There is no single solution when it comes to the buildings that protect your people.?The “right answer” is the one that best meets all of your needs, including the level of protection against the full suite of hazards present at your site (i.e., blast, fire, toxic, fragments and/or natural phenomena hazards), schedule, and cost (both initial and lifetime).?

BakerRisk has been engaged for decades in evaluating the response of buildings to the full range of hazards posed by industrial operations, developing upgrades to existing buildings to address these hazards, and designing new buildings when required to meet client needs.??

The knowledge base and tools we use for building response assessments and design are built upon decades of experience in analysis, testing and accidental explosion investigations .?This experience has taught us that “one size does not fit all” when it comes to selecting the optimal hazard protection solution.

Building Upgrades

For existing buildings, the full range of applicable hazards should first be evaluated to determine if the consequences and/or risks are tolerable, which is why BakerRisk has developed robust tools and techniques for building siting assessment.?If our client determines that a building siting assessment shows they have an issue requiring resolution, then we don’t leave our client with a problem on their hands and no solutions.?An existing building may be cost-effectively upgraded to withstand the applicable hazards, and BakerRisk has developed a wide range of upgrade solutions for existing buildings; if an upgrade is the best solution , then we stand ready to provide the upgrade design for our client and see it through construction.?

New Structures

If a building upgrade is not the best solution, or a new building is desired, then we stand ready to apply this same knowledge base to develop solutions for our clients.?Whether the new building can be sited in a low-hazard area (e.g., trailers or tents ), an area with moderate blast hazards and low toxic/flammable gas risks (e.g., a blast-resistant pre-engineered metal building or blast resistant modular building), or nearer to the processing area and requiring the full range of multi-hazard resistant features (e.g., a FORTRESS Protective Building or a stick-built building with equivalent protection), we can support our client’s needs.?Depending on the client, we can provide hazard-specific design details, issued for construction drawings, support during construction and/or a turn-key building solution.

We consider the full range of possible solutions to our client’s building needs and provide the recommendations that best meet our client’s needs.?What is the “right answer” for the building to protect your people??The “right answer” is the one that best meets your protection level, cost and schedule needs, and this is the answer BakerRisk will provide our clients, every time.

Contact BakerRisk today to discover the best options for your building siting needs.