The effect of façade curvature and surrounding building heights on pedestrian-level wind speeds in the City of London

Abstract

This paper analyses the effect of façade curvature with varying the surrounding building heights on pedestrian-level wind speeds and comfort for walking, using computational fluid dynamics. The case study focuses on 20 Fenchurch Street site in London as several complaints have risen in relation to high wind speeds, the cause of which is not thoroughly understood. The results of the simulation revealed that although the increase of surrounding building heights reduces overall pedestrian-level wind speeds for both curved existing and cuboid building, façade curvature impacts differently on winds, compared to the cuboid. Isolated curved and cuboid building would perform similarly with the exception of the northwest corner. However, introducing the existing surrounding buildings, the curved façade geometry would create larger area of walking discomfort compared to the cuboid geometry. When the height of the surrounding buildings is increased, both buildings would perform similarly with minor aerodynamic advantage to the curved-façade.