ARC2009 ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY - COURSEWORK SUBMISSION PART 2B MEANS OF ESCAPE - EXPLORING EXPERIENCES 140007567
HUMAN CAPACITY IN THE BUILDING Storey
Room
First Floor
Board Game Room A Board Game Room B
Second Floor
Lounge
Area Floor Space Factor (m2) (m2/persons) 30.78 5 56.03 5 47.48 30 TOTAL 69.14 0.5 26.8 2.0 22.8 1 11.8 30 TOTAL 62.69 8.0 79.96 8.0 TOTAL 52.25 2.0
Internet Cafe A Internet Cafe B
73.93 45.99
Basement
3D Print Factory Factory Storage/Plant Room
Ground Floor
Reception/Lobby Shop Cafe Storage
1.0 1.0 TOTAL GRAND TOTAL
MINIMUM ROUTE BASED ON OCCUPANT Basement
Occupant Capacity: 18.5 persons Minimum Route Width: 850mm Minimum Stairs Width: 1000mm
Ground Floor
Occupannt Capacity: 175 persons Minimum Route Width: 1050mm Minimum Stairs Width: N/A
First Floor
Occupant Capacity: 18 persons Minimum Route Width: 750mm Minimum Stairs Width: 1000mm
Second Floor
Occupant Capacity: 146 persons Minimum Route Width: 1050mm Minimum Stairs Width: 1400mm
The requirement is based on Approved Document B Volume 2 Table 4 (page 36) and Table 8 (page 48).
MINIMUM WIDTH FOR EACH FINAL EXITS Occupant Capiticy 6 11 1.5 18.5 138 13.5 23 0.5 175 8 10 18 26 74 46 146 357.5 Persons
In order to find the minimum final exits, calculation is needed. W determined Final Exit Width, N symbolize Occupant Capacity and S represents the Width of the stairs. [W=((N/2.5)+(60xS))/80. W=((N/2.5)+(60xS))/80 W=((175/2.5)+(60x1.5))/80 W=(70+120)/80 W=175.312/80 W=2.3M
Based on the calculation, the minimum width for the final exit to accommodate the people in the building is 2.3 meters.
MAXIMUM DISTANCE OF TRAVEL Maximum distance of travel in small premises with a protected stairs:: 45m
The requirement is based on Approved Document B Volume 2 Table 5 (page 40).
MEANS OF ESCAPES SUMMARY The Final design does not passed the requirement for the fire exit documents, as the void in the middle of the building is not 4.5m away to the fire route, resulting in closing the void. The main stairways from 1st floor to the 2nd floor need to moved as the stairs is not protected, lastly the third floor access is too dangerous. The building is facilitated with 2 stairs, main stairs and fire exit, as the grand total of building’s occupant is 337 persons, which needed 2 minimum number of escapes routes based on Table 3 of Approved Document B Volume 2 (page 34). However toilets is not included as it is not habitable. The basement is accessed from the center courtyard with an outdoor stairs. Therefore the fire exit is rather straightforward. The ground floor is provided with two fire exits, with consideration of, the main entrance is located in the void of 1st and 2nd floor, which have a higher risk of dangerous fire debris in the event. Therefore an alternative route will be wise to have. First floor is used for board games purposes, where each room is provided with the Board Game table (1.2m x 2.4m). With this consideration, the floor space factor is based on a billiard room due to the similarities on people behavior and movement in the space. Second floor’s layout is oriented efficiently for Internet café, with a small opening to the first floor in the west side of the Internet Café B Room. However the distance to the main exit route to the opening is 4.5m, identical to the minimum requirement based on the Approved Document B Volume 2 Diagram 14 (page 35).
The middle Open courtyard to bring light to the basement, however very dangerous for fire spread.
The building is made by Concrete and rather enclosed to the outside world as the concept of the building is a portal to another gaming dimensions.
CONSIDERATION FOR THE NEW DESIGN In order to fulfill the requirement for Approved Document B Volume 2 the architect need to adjust the layout of the building. First, the building need to closed the void from Ground Floor: Lobby, First Floor: Lounge and Second Floor: Lounge, as the width does not meet the standard. Second, the third floor access is considered to dangerous as the stairs is an external stair and located in both the junction of the two void. Therefore scrapping the third floor will be wise for the safety of the building. Last, is to change the stairs design into an U shape for efficiency and adding one more final exit route in the Ground Floor: Lobby.