Hyperscale data centres
Sprinkler systems like pre-action system design for mission-critical white-space, pump rooms, and support facilities across multiple European sites.
Design Lead · Fire Protection
Yashkumar
Shah
Fire protection design for the buildings that should not burn
- Experience
- 9+ years · Europe & US
- Projects
- 75+ delivered
- BIM
- LOD 500 modelling
- Standards
- NFPA · LPCBFM Global · ENNFPA · FM Global · LPCB · EN
- Location
- Mullingar, Ireland
- Right to work
- Critical Skills Work Permit · Stamp 1
About
I design the systems that buildings quietly depend on
Mechanical engineer by training. Fire protection engineer by choice.
My path into fire protection engineering started with a mechanical design engineering degree at MIT Pune and early years at Thermax and Tata, learning how large industrial systems actually behave. When I moved into building services, it was a natural step: fire protection sits at the intersection of hydraulics, mechanical design, code compliance, and coordination with every other discipline on a project.
Over the last nine years, I have worked on fire protection system designs for over a hundred projects across the US and Europe. My experience spans critical infrastructure and landmark developments, including hyperscale data centres, Harlem's major healthcare campus, and the LaGuardia Airport redevelopment. From power plants and industrial warehouses to high-rise mixed-use, hospitality, and residential towers. Each of them has a fire protection strategy behind the walls that I helped design.
I moved to Ireland at the end of 2025 to lead fire protection design at Writech Industrial Services, working primarily on mission-critical facilities and complex infrastructure across Europe. I am building the next stretch of my practice around the projects I care about most: the buildings that people trust to keep working, and to keep them safe.
At present
Leading fire protection design at Writech Industrial Services in Ireland — focused on hyperscale data centres, power generation, and mission-critical infrastructure across Europe.
Sector
Data centres
Region
Europe
Standards
NFPA · FM Global · LPCB · European Norms
BIM
LOD 400 / 500
Track record
Nine years, more than a hundred buildings
0+
Projects delivered
€0M+
Multiple project values
0+
Designers & BIM technicians managed
LOD 0
Modelling standard
- BIM-driven design and coordination up to LOD 500, with fabrication-level drawings delivered directly to contractors.
- Detailed multi-discipline coordination resolved to zero-tolerance clash rejection.
- Detailed QA/QC process across every submission — recognised by clients for value engineering and design optimisation.
- Mentoring designers and BIM technicians — building capability across the team, not just delivering the drawings.
- Contribution to standardisation, best-practice documentation, and internal training — helping the team compound its expertise.
- Clear communication, well-planned submissions, and reliable delivery under contract programme.
- Experienced across NFPA, BS EN 12845, VdS 4001 CEA, IS EN 12845, BS 9251, and FM Global.
Sectors
The buildings I design fire protection for
Sectors that share the same brief: stay standing, stay serviceable, keep people safe.
Power generation buildings
Deluge, water-mist, and foam suppression for turbine halls, transformer bays, and fuel handling — written to FM Global data sheets.
Warehouses
In-rack and ceiling-only ESFR sprinkler design for high-piled storage, sized to actual commodity classification and storage configuration.
Medical / hospital
Fire protection design for hospital campuses and healthcare developments, coordinated tightly with HVAC and complex compartmentation strategies.
Commercial / office buildings
Sprinkler design and standpipe systems for mid-rise offices across the US and Europe, coordinated in Revit and Navisworks.
Shopping complex
Integrated sprinkler design for retail podiums and shopping centres, with tenant fit-out coordination baked in from the concept stage.
Hospitality
Fire protection design for hotels and hospitality projects, resolving suppression, standpipe, and finish coordination in the same package.
Institutional
Sprinkler and hydrant design for institutional developments, sized and coordinated to project-specific occupancy and life-safety strategy.
Restaurants
Kitchen suppression, ceiling sprinkler layouts, and coordinated fit-out drawings for standalone restaurants and food-and-beverage tenants.
Residential buildings
Domestic and residential sprinkler systems for apartment blocks and mixed developments across Ireland and the UK.
What I bring to a project
Systems, standards, tools, coordination
The systems I design, the codes I write to, the tools I work in, and how I coordinate with the rest of the design team.
Systems
- Wet & dry sprinkler
- Pre-action (single & double interlock)
- ESFR sprinkler system
- Deluge
- Low pressure water mist
- Foam suppression (AFFF / high-expansion)
- Special hazard fire protection
- Fire hydrant networks
- Fire pump rooms
Codes & Standards
- NFPA — 13, 14, 15, 20, 24, 750
- FM Global Data Sheets
- BS EN 12845
- IS EN 12845
- BS 9251
- VdS 4001 CEA
- LPCB Rules
- Irish & UK Building Regs
Tools
- Revit MEP
- AutoCAD
- Navisworks Manage
- Autosprink RVT
- Fire Elite
- MicroBIM
- Autodesk Construction Cloud
BIM & Coordination
- LOD 400 / 500 modelling
- Clash detection
- Fabrication drawings
- Construction packages
- Discipline coordination
- Reading BEPs, sketches & architectural drawings
- Bill of quantities
- Hydraulic calculations
- Project close-out & lessons learned
- QA/QC & submittals
Software
Software in the daily kit
The specialised packages I rely on for precise planning, analysis, hydraulic simulation, and multi-discipline coordination.
Approach
Three things I hold to on every project
Life safety first, always
Every decision on a fire protection drawing has to work backwards from the same question — will this system perform the moment it matters. Coverage, density, response time, water supply, redundancy. If a design choice makes any of those weaker, it is not a good choice, no matter how elegant it looks on the model.
The best drawing is the one the fabricator can build from
LOD 500 is not a badge; it is a promise to the installer. My models are meant to be built from, not admired. Sizing, hangers, offsets, and coordination clashes get resolved in the model — so the pipes go up in the field with fewer changes, less rework, and cleaner finishes.
Coordination is a design deliverable
Fire protection lives above ceilings, alongside HVAC, cable trays, and structure. The value I bring is not just the sprinkler design — it is the negotiation with every other discipline to make sure the design still works when they have all had their turn.
Career
From graduate trainee in Pune to fire protection design lead in Ireland
- Nov 2025 — PresentPresent
Writech Industrial Services Ltd.· Ireland
Design Lead — Fire ProtectionLeading fire protection design for hyperscale data centres, power generation, and mission-critical infrastructure across Europe. Promoted from Sr. Fire Protection Design Engineer (joined end of 2025) to Design Lead in June 2026.
- Mar 2020 — Aug 2025
JB Everest Technical Services· Pune
Sr. Public Health & Fire Protection EngineerSprinkler, hydrant, and suppression design for large commercial, healthcare, and infrastructure projects across European clients. Coordinated construction packages and led delivery for a 20+ person team.
- Dec 2016 — Feb 2020
New York Engineers· Pune
Plumbing & Fire Protection Design EngineerPlumbing and fire protection systems to NYC codes and NFPA — commercial and residential developments.
- Post-graduate
Thermax Ltd.· Pune
Post Graduate Project TraineeEarly mechanical engineering experience on large industrial systems.
- Undergraduate
Tata Motors PCBU & TAL· Pune
Graduate Project TraineeAutomation and manufacturing exposure.
Education
Where I trained and where I stand
Education
- Master of EngineeringMechanical DesignMIT, Pune · 2013 — 2015
- Bachelor of EngineeringMechanicalAISSMS, Pune · 2008 — 2012
Professional
- Chartered membershipMIEI — Engineers IrelandApplication in progress
- Right to workCritical Skills Work Permit · Stamp 1Irish Residence Permit holder
Contact
Working on a building that should not burn — say hello
Fire protection design, hydraulic calculations, BIM coordination, standards review. Reach me on any of the below and I will answer within a day or two.
- Emailyashpshah.shah@gmail.com
- LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/yashkumarshah
- LocationMullingar, Ireland
© 2026 Yashkumar Shah