Pedestrian flow Centaure Project

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Dynamic simulation of the student arrival flow

The context:

The French top-tier agronomic engineering school AgroParisTech relocated in 2022 from the 5th arrondissement of Paris to the scientific cluster of Plateau de Saclay (south of Paris). The historic building in central Paris was ceded to Galileo Global Education and will host various educational institutions, ranging from business schools to the renowned theatre programme “Cours Florent.” The expected number of students is substantial, as are the site constraints, including narrow corridors, doors, and a protected building structure. Our client contacted OpenDC to conduct a crowd modelling analysis to ensure that the environment’s design could accommodate the arrivals and departures of staff and students during peak times.

What we did:

We gathered all assumptions regarding space design and student schedules. We developed a dynamic pedestrian flow model to simulate peak-time arrivals and departures of students, highlighting bottlenecks and estimating potential congestion and delays. We ran multiple scenarios to propose routing solutions that minimised crowd density and ensured comfort and safety for students throughout the building.

The value for our client:

Thanks to our analysis, our client was able to anticipate congestion risks and their locations. They subsequently updated their building circulation plan. The quantitative analysis based on the revised circulation plan reassured stakeholders that the planned schedule and available space would guarantee a high level of comfort and safety for future students and staff.