Written by Chaitanya Rane
Friday, January 24, 2020
Pedestrian wind comfort analysis around the windy Brickell City Avenue, Miami, Florida
By
Chaitanya Rane
The Brickell City Center is a $1.05 billion shopping and mixed-use project located on Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida.The total span of the project is around 5.4 million sq.ft and, it hoists many high-rise towers rising as high as 150 m (500 ft) from the ground level.
With the ocean on the west face of the city center, this area is prone to strong wind conditions throughout the year.
Aerial view of the Brickell City Centre (Source: Google Earth)
The downwash of gusty winds along the height of the towers and the funneling of wind in the internal areas around Brickell Avenue make it a hotspot for pedestrian discomfort. It becomes essential to analyze the pedestrian wind comfort in such areas as it provides essential insights for future projects and ongoing development.
Here, we have simulated the high-rise structure of the Brickell City Center and predicted the pedestrian wind comfort around Brickell Avenue over the year.
Time to analyze the pedestrian wind comfort
Pedestrian Comfort Analysis, a cloud-based external wind CFD simulation app by simulationHub, is used to analyze the wind flow pattern and the resulting pedestrian comfort levels around the high-rise area. The application requires a 3D CAD model of the site under inspection and the wind data around the site.
3D CAD model of the high-rise buildings
Orientation of the CAD model with respect to the Cardinal directions
Here is the 3D CAD model of the high-rise towers on Brickell Avenue. It is necessary to make sure that the orientation of the model is such that its top view corresponds to the cardinal wind directions.
Wind rose diagram for the wind data around Brickell Avenue
The wind rose diagram shows all the major wind directions, wind velocities, and their frequencies throughout the year. For this simulation, we have selected the 4 most frequently occurring wind directions to predict pedestrian wind comfort.
Once the CFD simulation is complete, the calculated wind velocity data is put through the Lawson Comfort Criteria to determine the wind comfort grade in the simulated region.
Let’s look at the results...
Pedestrian Comfort Plot around the Brickell Avenue
The comfort plot shows that the major areas around Brickell Avenue are suitable for sitting and won’t cause any discomfort to the pedestrians. There are few zones wherein the wind funnels through narrow alleys and may cause discomfort to people walking down those roads.
Velocity contour plots for the wind flowing from the sea facing side
Looking at the wind velocity plot from the ocean-side direction, narrow alleys adjacent to the ocean have a wind funneling effect and are some of the major zones of pedestrian discomfort. Also, the overall wind velocity pattern will provide architects and urban planners a useful insight into designing more efficient building structures in the future.
Have a look at the 3D results of this simulation for more details
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