Purpose This paper aims to focus on assessing fire safety level of a patrimonial structure by combining a fire outbreak scenario with various protection measures. Design/methodology/approach Heritage buildings often fail to meet modern fire safety standards due to multiple concerns, including the presence of highly flammable aged materials, outdated electrical systems and insufficient contemporary firefighting systems. Furthermore, preserving these structures requires careful consideration, as their historical and cultural significance must be maintained. Any alteration must be strongly justified in accordance with the Venice Charter 1. To evaluate the fire safety of such a structure, a performance-based approach using fire dynamics simulator is applied. A model case study of the Gothic carpentry of Our Lady Cathedral at Tournai was built to simulate different fire protection scenarios and analyse the fire behaviour. The study aims to address safety research questions related to fire propagation and prevention strategies. Findings For the studied structure layout, the results indicate that (1) an electrical fire outbreak in the isolated Gothic carpentry would lead to widespread flashover of the structure; (2) natural ventilation through windows can help mitigate the flashover by allowing heat dissipation and (3) compartmenting the electrical cabinet proves to be more effective in limiting fire and smoke propagation compared to relying solely on natural ventilation. Originality/value This case study provides some recommendations for enhancing fire safety strategies tailored to the Gothic carpentry while preserving its structural integrity and patrimonial value. The proposed fire protection measures can be adapted to similar heritage structures.
Kamwa et al. (Sun,) studied this question.