Presenter: Matthew Davy, Arup Government Projects, Inc.

A recent CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) article stated the number of 200+ meter–tall buildings totals more than 600, which represents a small though iconic set of total high-rises in the world. At the extreme are hyper-tall towers that require intermediate transfer levels, or sky lobbies, for people to reach their destinations. The use of these spaces is different for each building, but the sky lobby may be considered a point of safety during lift evacuation. This alternative resolves the need to move occupants to the actual ground floor of the building during ordinary fire events. For that reason, a risk assessment framework is used to evaluate the sky lobby, and the potential outcome is evaluated and presented for a practical application.