Simulation modelling in a BIM environment: the case of school re-opening during Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic influenced the way that buildings are used and experienced. In particular, educational facilitieswere among the most affected by the pandemic in terms of use processes. This paper presents a methodology developedto reorganise spaces in a school building, a real case study, to allow safe reopening. Social distancing and availability oflearning spaces were taken into account to simulate the use of the educational facility according to the emergencyprotocols. Based on a digital survey of the existing building, a building information model was generated and used as abasis for spatial analysis and crowd and agent-based simulations. Additionally, interactive games and training videoswere developed as communication tools to inform end users about the new rules to be respected inside the building. Thedigital approach adopted for the analysis of use processes as well as for communicating the results to the end usersallowed them to experience the school fruition processes within a virtual environment before the school reopening.Future works could deal with the application of the same methodology in other schools, as well as in different contexts,going beyond the specificity of the pandemic emergency, and for other types of buildings