As part of the Hertfordshire BSF program, AECOM was commissioned to undertake LEGION pedestrian simulation modelling to test the proposed designs for Marriots Lonsdale School.

The application of the pedestrian modelling technique to determine the most efficient design layouts are considered to be state-of-the art technique for arriving at the most safe and efficient design solutions.

The purpose of this project was to assess the safety, comfort and efficiency of the forecast pedestrian movements within the school and ensure that a robust design had been put forward. This work highlighted areas of concern based on predicted levels of congestion at a number of pinch points around the design, most notably on the staircases.

The outputs of this project consisted of mean density maps, high density maps which showed where high levels of congestion were maintained for long periods of time, space utilisation maps which would help to plan the siting of furniture and other objects as well as videos of the pedestrian movements within the school.

Results were presented back to the architects showing the issues that had been identified. AECOM then came up with a number of recommendations on how to alleviate these problems and worked with the client to implement them. Following some design modifications the model was retested and showed improvements in pedestrian flows to a level which could be considered suitable for a development of this type.