SR128 Fire protection of New Zealand's traditional Māori buildings (2004)

The research objective was to investigate the issue of fire protection for New Zealand's traditional Māori buildings. The incidence of fires in Māori buildings was investigated, and fire protection approaches developed for historic buildings in general were studied for relevance to Māori buildings.

Small-scale and full-scale fire tests were conducted on the traditional materials used in lining the walls and ceilings of wharenui.

The BRANZ fire computer model was used to predict the fire development and tenability conditions in a real wharenui fire scenario, and evacuation modelling was conducted.