Safety assessment of a high-rise dormitory in case of fire

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on the combination of fire- and agent-based modelling approaches to assess the level of safety of a multi-storeyed building case study. Design/methodology/approach: For an existing building to be occupied such as the engineering student dormitory of Mons (Belgium), engineers must establish, among the other things, that the building affords a sufficient level of safety during fire incident. This can be verified in accordance with prescriptive- and performance-based methodologies. The performance-based approach consists on using simulation tools such as fire dynamics simulator with evacuation to ensure/verify the level of safety required. In this paper, a model case study was built and then various scenarios have been implemented to answer some safety questions. Findings: For this building layout, the results demonstrate that combining different egress components (i.e. stairs and outdoor ladders) has a negative impact on the evacuation process than using only the stairs to evacuate the building; phased evacuation strategy will not necessarily lead to faster evacuation; adding fire doors in the stairs and between the floors has a beneficial effect on the evacuation process. Originality/value: This case study proposes some recommendations about adapted evacuation strategy and investments to improve the safety of high-rise student’s dormitory in case of fire.