Observations of crowd behaviour during evacuation show that people use paths that are familiar to them. NIRAS Safety use this fact to design fire protection measures where familiar circulation paths are used for fire escape.
Multipurpose arenas and sports stadia are buildings for entertainment such as sports and concerts.
The huge occupancy in arenas poses the primary challenge in escape route design which must be optimised using a comprehensive analysis to avoid loosing vast floor areas to escape routes and escape stairs.
They typically are designed for a very high occupancy levels, coupled with high fire loads.
Great openness is needed within the building, so fire and smoke control is a significant challenge. This can be typically solved with optimised smoke ventilation systems and carefully specified construction.
Value and flexibility NIRAS Safety bring to arenas and stadia projects include:
- Maximum flexibility and versatility of use to enhance the commercial viability of a project.
- Large uninterrupted spaces within public areas to realise the architectural vision
- Reduced installation costs of fire safety measures, including the use of unprotected steel structures, fire strategies based on smoke ventilation in lieu of sprinkler protection.
- Openness and integration of public facilities (restaurants, skyboxes, bars and fast food stalls)
- Rationalisation of exits, in particular extended travel distances and a reduction in the number of dedicated fire exit paths.
- Strategy for evacuation of people with disabilities, including the use of lifts for evacuation and innovative use of ramps.
- Use of advanced modelling techniques to optimise all escape paths.
- Development of fire management strategies based consideration of the fact that arenas public buildings are highly managed.