Egress Design of Multiple Escape Chute
Many tall buildings have adopted the Safe Room and Refuge Area concept providing occupants with a hardened or protective environment to seek shelter in during a fire emergency. Unless there is Imminent Danger to Life or Health, remain in their space or designated shelter until they have to escape or unless instructed by arriving Responders or designated individuals to evacuate may be the best policy. This evacuation strategy do not require building occupants from upper floors say at the 50th floor to get down to the ground floor in a fire emergency but to take shelter at designated refuge areas at say the 40th, 30th, 20th, 10th floor. Accessible Means of Escape Design pre-plans for quick escape for occupants including the disabled taking temporary shelter in the refuge areas if the emergency gets out of control that requires them to get out of the building fast and quick.
Accessible Means of Escape Design: This egress design is a unique and integral part of the enhanced staircase development of vertical exits in tall building that utilizes multi-entry escape chute system. The multiple chute installation is integrated inside the fire protective stairwell that is accessible for everyone including the handicapped. The multi-entry installation can either have an escape station at each floor thereby assuring everyone of timely access to escape, or have an escape station at every alternate floor mid landing level of stairwell that services to two floors thereby accessibility to the escape station is only one flight of stairs away. The multiple chute installation can be configured either to enable evacuees from upper floors to descend bypass floors below to final exit at the ground floor, or to descend to secondary exit at refuge floor level.
A zig-zag configuration of multiple chute installation has a section of the chute from above end at the refuge level and has another escape station a few steps away from the exit point of that chute. By having a section of the chute ends at the refuge level, a person exits the chute can either go to the refuge area on that floor; or by walking a few steps from the exit point of the above chute to another escape station will enable the person to continue to descend to the next refuge level. If there are 4 refuge floors at different level of a tall building, the person from the uppermost floor will have to exit the chute (secondary exit) and access to another escape station at each refuge levels (4 times) before arriving at ground floor (final exit).
An Accessible Means of Escape Design reduces fears of occupants in multi-storey buildings who are unable to walk down or navigate stairs. When fire occurs, the disabled and the severe mobility impaired will have to make their way, assist or unassisted, and take temporary refuge inside this stair enclosure waiting for rescue. They could either self descend via the chute that would get them to the refuge floor level or to the ground floor more quickly and relatively safely. Or they can wait to be assisted by helpers down the stairs.
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