Circulation and occupation of the spheres

Accommodating the maximum flow of visitors was the key that led to the choice of the most suitable path to be followed for the visit, and to the number of escalators and stairs.

The top sphere has, in addition to the restaurant in the upper half, a circular viewpoint where about 250 persons can easily look through the six large plexiglass windows. The comfortable restaurant can accommodate 140 persons. Access to the top sphere is by a fast lift taking 22 persons up at 16.4 ft/s.

The descent is solely by the lift, but there are two stairs which, leading from the top sphere via the tubes to the middle spheres, join up with two lower spheres and thence to the stairs of the corresponding bipods. The number of visitors that can reach the top sphere depends only on the lift capacity and the average time spent by the visitors in that sphere. About 400 persons an hour can be taken up to the top sphere.

For the visit of the other spheres, several circuits were possible in principle but there were three conditions that led to the optimum choice.

1) The visit of all the halls where the scientific exhibits were shown had to be along a continuous path.

2) There had to be several exits for one entrance.

3) In order to avoid overcrowdings, one-way circulation had to be imposed in the tubes and even the spheres. These conditions led to the following circuit:

- entrance in the reception pavilion, escalator to the first floor of the base sphere, visit of that floor and escalator to the second floor of that sphere;

- access to the Ii sphere via the large 115 ft long escalator in the tube linking that sphere with the base sphere;

- visit of the two floors of Ii, with interconnecting escalators between them

- access to the central sphere by a large 85 ft long escalator;

- from the first floor of the central sphere, the public goes down by the ordinary stairs in the diagonal tubes towards either of the spheres 12 or 13;

- After the visit of the spheres, exit by the stairs of the bipods.


jkm@skypoint.com

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