Abstract: In recent years, theater-type buildings have increasingly featured a tall lobby, serving as an important area for the convergence and circulation of people and for resting, as well as functioning as a transportation hub and spatial transition zone. Taking a grand theater as an example, this tall lobby and the foyer are separated from the surrounding fire compartments on the first floor by special-class fire shutters, and the lobby connect the second and third floors. This arrangement presents issues such as excessively large fire compartment areas and overly long evacuation distances. Based on the relatively low combustible load in the fire compartment, a fire protection design scheme is proposed, and numerical simulation is used to verify the feasibility of the scheme in ensuring the safety of personnel evacuation. This study can serve as a reference for the fire protection design of similar theater buildings.

Key words: theater, tall lobby, fire compartment, safe evacuation, fire prevention and control