Fire Safety of Tall Buildings: Approach in Design and Prevention

Design of tall buildings is a multidisciplinary process and requires a wide range of measures to take to withstand in various emergencies. Fire is one of them and can cause of chaotic situations considering hundreds of users in multistorey. The measures are divided into two categories, active and passive fire protection. Architectural design and detailing are part of the passive systems. Along with the fundamental solutions in fire protection, tall buildings require more specific and often design-specific solutions. Detection and extinguishing systems are part of the active fire protection systems. The failure of the World Trade Centre pointed the vulnerability of steel structures; the fire at the Grenfell Tower pointed the significance of the enveloping materials for facades, and the fire at the One Meridian Tower pointed the significance of the active systems for every floor. The paper focuses on the fire case studies of tall buildings and follows with an assessment of the approaches in architectural design and detailing applicable from the structural design to the finishing interior detailing.