On the Simulation of Atrium Fire Environment in Hong Kong Using Zone Models

This article is a report studying the potential fire risk in atrium buildings in Hong Kong. The general shapes of the atrium buildings are sur veyed and classified into three types. Fire environments in those three types of atria are simulated using three mathematical fire zone models, the FIRST, the ASET and the FAST, developed at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, NIST, U.S.A. In addition, simulations on four actual atria are also performed. All the results show that smoke will bring many problems, and controlling smoke is essential to providing safety in the atrium spaces.