[HN Gopher] Exit Strategy: The Case for Single-Stair Egress
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Exit Strategy: The Case for Single-Stair Egress
        
       Author : ayanai
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2024-05-16 19:29 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.architecturalrecord.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.architecturalrecord.com)
        
       | metabagel wrote:
       | California Assemblymember Alex Lee pushes for single-stairway
       | apartment buildings [1]
       | 
       | https://milpitasbeat.com/assemblymember-alex-lee-pushes-for-...
        
       | sparrish wrote:
       | Single-stair egress costs lives. It shouldn't be allowed. They
       | were right to ban them, no matter how 'ugly' or costly it makes
       | the buildings.
        
         | mynameisvlad wrote:
         | On its own? Sure. But they are rarely found in a vacuum.
         | 
         | Per the article:
         | 
         | > American approaches aim to make combustible light wood-frame
         | buildings easier to escape by providing multiple paths of
         | egress; European codes, by contrast, require fire-resistant
         | materials and compartmentation to prevent fires from spreading
         | in the first place. Statistically, the evidence is clear: fire-
         | death rates are consistently lower in Europe than in the U.S.
         | and Canada.
         | 
         | It's almost as if disproving this statement is the whole point
         | of the article or something.
        
         | sokoloff wrote:
         | Spreading out housing more also costs lives, just indirectly.
         | (Increases costs, pollution, land usage, travel
         | distance/time/risk, etc.)
         | 
         | Very few things have a single, simplistic effect in the complex
         | world system.
        
         | helloooooooo wrote:
         | For timber frame buildings, maybe. But in modern concrete fire
         | resistant compartmentalized building it does not make sense at
         | all.
        
           | pphysch wrote:
           | Most of the new 4-6 story apartment buildings I see going up
           | in USA are all timber frames, at least in the residential
           | floors.
        
       | w10-1 wrote:
       | Related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39043956
        
       | pixelcort wrote:
       | In Tokyo there can be one stairwell, and then the balconies have
       | foldable ladders in their floors. How about that?
        
       | throwitaway222 wrote:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40229655
        
       | thinkingkong wrote:
       | I suspect the 6 story and shorter buildings will end up having an
       | alternative design where the stairwell and possibly certain walls
       | are concrete, poured around the same time as the foundation, but
       | the remaining structure is engineered timber.
       | 
       | The challenge is going to be convincing fire departments and
       | insurance agencies that theyre safe enough to not prevent.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-05-16 23:00 UTC)