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Performance evaluation of exit doors in high-rise residential building lobbies based on behavioral patterns; case study: Saman residential towers
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Alireza Soltanzadeh *   , Hamed Mazaherian , Shahin Heidari |
| Department of Architectural Technology, Faculty of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. , soltan.alireza@ut.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (527 Views) |
Objective: One of the neglected aspects of emergency evacuation studies is the relationship between exit design and human behavioral patterns. The primary objective of this research is to identify the most significant behavioral patterns exhibited during emergency evacuation in residential high-rise buildings in Tehran and to optimize exit design in residential tower lobbies based on these behavioral characteristics.
Method: Data collection was conducted using survey research, field investigations, case study analysis, experimental testing, modeling, and simulation techniques. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed for data analysis. The independent variables included exit door width, spacing between exit doors, and the number of exit doors, while the dependent variable was the time and quality of complete occupant evacuation (with quality assessed in terms of reduced crowd density near exits). The study was carried out in two main phases. In the first phase, behavioral patterns of residents during evacuation were examined through questionnaires and experimental tests conducted in a case-study building (Saman Residential High-Rise Complex). In the second phase, modeling and simulation techniques were used to analyze and evaluate the performance of emergency exits under different scenarios involving congestion, obstruction, crowd density, and evacuation movement patterns.
Results: The results indicate that insufficient training and limited prior experience contribute to inappropriate occupant behavior during fire emergencies. Key behavioral characteristics observed in Iranian residential high-rise buildings include prolonged pre-evacuation times, reluctance to leave the building, exiting stairwells at different floors, route changes during evacuation, and collective movement patterns with varying distances among different population groups. The findings further demonstrate that introducing staggered evacuation intervals improves both evacuation speed and quality, highlighting the advantages of phased evacuation over total evacuation scenarios. In addition, the presence of elevator lobbies and corridors was found to reduce evacuation efficiency and slow occupant movement.
Conclusions: This study identified the most important behavioral patterns associated with emergency evacuation in residential high-rise buildings. A pre-evacuation time model tailored to Iranian residential conditions was developed and compared with internationally recognized models. Furthermore, an innovative hybrid approach based on fuzzy logic was proposed to estimate occupant movement speeds according to their physical characteristics. The research also evaluated the optimal placement of exit doors within residential lobbies under various scenarios involving population peaks, phased and total evacuation strategies, and different obstacle configurations in front of exits, ultimately providing optimized design solutions for improving evacuation performance. |
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| Keywords: Emergency Evacuation, Behavioral Patterns, High-Rise Residential Complex, Exit Doors. |
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Full-Text [PDF 2771 kb]
(62 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
معماری
Received: 2026/01/7 | Accepted: 2026/03/31 | Published: 2026/06/10
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