When designing a building, an architect must consider not only public health and safety but also the fire protection of the property.

They must look at the property from all angles, including that of first responders and occupants. From considering the materials used in their design to establishing proper flow and layout for rescue, an architect does much more than adding four walls, a ceiling, and a roof to a design.

Developing with Safety in Mind

The architect’s role in safety is crucial. They are the first to think about safety, and it is their professional obligation to design a building that complies with all building codes, zoning laws, and property rules for the state and county where they operate.

Furthermore, the architect’s must think proactively. While building codes are the baseline of safety, they often contain critical issues, such as layout and fire escape concerns. Therefore, the architect must look for additional ways to improve the safety of the structure that is outside of local codes.

3 Critical Design Issues Related to Fire Safety for Residential and Commercial Architecture

A good architect works in close cooperation with local fire and rescue crews to develop a property that is a non-fire hazard, but also accessible to first responders. Some ways they do that include:

1. Materials Used in Construction

The materials employed in a building’s construction will significantly influence the fire safety of the property, but also the ease of access for first responders.

Architects usually want to avoid combustible materials. Commercial and residential architecture is best if it does not contain excessive amounts of combustible or high smoke producing materials. While these materials cannot be totally avoided, the architect's job, in conjunction with fire safety crews, is to determine which combinations are highly combustible or create toxic smoke combinations, so that they can reduce issues in the event of a fire.

2. The Layout and Flow of the Property

The layout and flow of a property can dictate how quickly fire crews can not only combat fires but rescue those that might be trapped within.

Again, this is achieved by working closely with fire experts and first responder teams.

Some questions that an architect looks to answer for the flow and layout include:

• The design of staircases, focusing on length, the number of landings, and the width of the landings.
• Requesting preferences for staircases versus elevators in fire rescue situations.
• Having fire crews review possible designs and provide feedback as to whether that design is friendly for rescue. Incorporate any suggestions from fire crews to improve safety or flow.

3. Fire Escape Routes in Commercial and Residential Architecture

Building codes require emergency exit routes that are not only expertly planned, but easy to navigate in the event of a fire.

Architects must know all applicable fire codes but also work in close collaboration with fire safety engineers to establish safe, practical fire escape routes for commercial, residential, and multi-purpose buildings.

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