Spatial Planning and Compartmentalization as Passive Fire Safety Measures in Industrial Building Design

Abstract

Fire remains a significant hazard in industrial facilities, where combustible materials and continuous operations create conditions for rapid fire escalation. While active fire protection systems receive substantial attention, passive strategies (spatial planning and compartmentalization) remain under-examined, particularly within Nigerian industrial building design. This study assessed the application of spatial planning and compartmentalization as passive fire safety measures in industrial buildings, examining current strategies, their perceived effectiveness, lessons from documented case studies, and design recommendations for integration. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining a structured questionnaire administered to 384 built environment and fire safety professionals with a comparative analysis of two international case studies (the Vander Haak Farm Digester, USA, and the Lohja Biogas Plant, Finland). Results revealed a substantial gap between professional conviction and practice: while respondents strongly endorsed the effectiveness of spatial planning and compartmentalization (80.8% agreement) and supported their wider adoption (88.7%), current application was rated weakest (45.0%), with protected fire doors emerging as the most deficient element. The case studies independently demonstrated hazard-based zoning, firebreak spacing, planned circulation, and prefabricated construction as transferable strategies, reinforcing practitioners' view that local practice lags behind international examples, though internal compartmentation remained less directly evidenced by the cases. The study concludes that the gap between current and recommended practice is largely an implementation and enforcement deficit rather than a knowledge gap, best addressed through design-stage integration and stricter code enforcement rather than post-occupancy compliance measures alone.