Tag: design

By Bethany Lenhardt, crime, safety and justice reporter

When considering the design of a building, architects must balance aesthetics with fire safety considerations, including prevention, suppression and egress.

Why it matters: The design of a building determines the safety of those inside and their route to leave in the event of an emergency.  

• “It’s [fire] a top priority when an architect is planning a building,” said Jim Bassett, Director of the School of Architecture at Virginia Tech. “All materials have a fire rating, and it’s really not just single materials, but also materials that come together as assemblies, so you’re talking about the way in which those things might perform together.” 

• For example, steel encased by concrete. Without concrete, steel is more vulnerable to fire. 

• “Steel loses 50% of its strength at 1100 degrees,” Bassett said. “A conventional structure fire can reach 1000 degrees in 10 minutes. You basically turn steel into spaghetti almost 10-15 minutes into a fire. This is why you have this network of responses, and the first one is protection of the assemblies.” 

Zoom in: Three major variables factor into the building’s function and design relative to fire. 

• “The first one is occupancy/use,” Bassett said. “What is the building going to be used for? Then type of construction; that is really the combustibility rating of the structure. The third one is the maximum height and area of your building.” 

• Bassett says that the three variables are integral to each other. They help determine the answers to practical questions and represent the balance between beautiful design and practical safety.  

• “How does it have to function relative to fire,” Bassett asked. “What and where do your walls – interior and exterior load-bearing walls – need to be? What do your non load bearing walls and partitions need to be? What does your floor and roof construction need to be?” 

Flashback: Historical events, like the Cocoanut Grove Fire of 1942, significantly impact and update building code over time. 

• According to the National Archives, a small fire in a popular Boston club, “The Grove,” took the lives of 492 people. A decorative palm tree began to light up in the basement lounge. Wall and ceiling decor acted as fuel, and the fire quickly spread and smoked, taking the lights out with it.  

• “An inward-opening door effectively became a wall as the panicked crowd pushed forth in an attempt to flee to the streets,” according to the National Archives website. “Additional exits, if they could be located in the dark, were either blocked or obscured, leaving hundreds trapped within the inferno.”  

• Bassett believes that the Grove fire is an example of an event that fundamentally changed building codes, and that fire is easily one of the most major shapers of code.  

• “You might not even notice, but all doors swing out in public spaces, especially rooms of a certain size,” Bassett said. “Sometimes they swing in, like my office, but that’s just because the occupancy load is very small; there’s just one or two people that have to get out.”   

Zoom out: In the grand scheme of things when a fire occurs, the number one priority is to get everyone out of the building.  

• Areas of egress are the exit routes for all individuals in a building. You need at least two exit strategies; more if the building composition is larger or holds a greater quantity of individuals. Common egress is an enclosed staircase, but accessibility also needs to be taken into account.  

• “Accessibility is very important when designing areas of egress specifically for those who are disabled,” said Julia Briner, senior architecture student. “My top considerations would be width of pathways and doorways, nonslip surfaces with tactile paving for those with visual impairments, proper lighting and signage, and safe areas where individuals can wait for assistance.” 

• “An area of refuge is simply an area where people that are unable to use the stairs can await emergency evacuation,” Bassett said. “If somebody in a wheelchair is in that space, for example, there’s an emergency button that they can press. When first responders show up, they will go through those routes to make sure there are not people stuck in those places.”