A growing trend in architecture is to incorporate the use of atria designs within school buildings. While it is the job of the architect to create such designs that are aesthetically pleasing, it is the responsibility of the fire protection engineer to ensure the life safety of the occupants within the building. In the design of an atrium, the main point of concern for the engineer, as always, is life safety, but more specifically is the design of the smoke management system.
As has previously been stated, the main objective of a smoke management system is to accomplish a high level of life safety and minimize property losses. Specifically, the objectives of a smoke management system are: