Evaluation of Escape Route Design in Public Multi-Storey Housing in Malaysia for Elderly Occupants

Abstract

Public multi-storey residential buildings in Malaysia are dependent on the passive design approach to ensure maximum safety during an emergency. Elements of escape route design include corridors, exits and staircases. This paper evaluates the escape route distance and duration for the elderly to evacuate the building to safety using Pathfinder simulations. The results show that the staircase has a significant contribution towards providing fast evacuation. Meanwhile, varying the width of the exit doors and corridors had minimal impact on evacuation. On average, the elderlies took longer to evacuate due to their slow speed of movement and limited physical capability. Keywords: Multi-Storey, Escape Route Design, Evacuation, Simulation eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/110.21834/ebpj.v5iSI2.2521.