A 30 m high full-scale burning facility, the PolyU/USTC Atrium, was built at the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS), USTC. This facility is mainly for research and it is managed by the PolyU/USTC Fire Safety and Technology Research Centre for Large Space (FSTRCLS).

This laboratory is now recognized at the Academy level of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS); and rated second among 16 joint HKSAR universities and CAS laboratories in a recent assessment held in November 1999.

The PolyU/USTC Atrium is used for studying atrium fire, smoke filling process, natural ventilation, forced-ventilation, atrium sprinkler and intelligent fire detection systems.