Winner of Billings Architectural Association's 2025 Single-Stair Housing Competition by Trae Schwenneker. The competition focused on urban infill in Downtown Billings, MT. The winning project honors the historic brick architect of Montana Avenue w/ ground-floor retail & four upper levels of condos.

Our team placed 2nd in the Urbanarium "Decoding Timber Towers" architectural ideas competition (1st place to @moriyamateshima.bsky.social) with our 20-storey mass timber tower featuring a compact elevator and exit stair core, exposed ceilings, prefab balconies and a balanced mix of 1 to 4 bed homes!

Pew finds something that everybody in codes and standards knows but few will say out loud: we apply far stricter fire safety standards to apartments than to houses. www.pew.org/en/research-...

“Modern apartments have a fire death rate … six times lower than older apartments… (or) single-family homes…” Aka why new single stair flats would be among the safest buildings in your city. www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-bu...

Modular, mass timber, and single-stair This workforce housing project in Montana maxes out the current IBC code limitations on single housing with a 10,000 sf floor plate and 8-bed units that each feature shared living, kitchen, and laundry. www.idcubedmodular.com/blank

This comparison shows the price of putting an internal garage on a rowhouse Both of these rowhomes are ~16' wide Left: 2BR+Den/3BA Right: 4BR/3.5BA So the cost is losing TWO bedroom.

Visited two of my favourite Point Access Blocks (single stair apartment buildings) in Berlin… E3 on Esmarchstrasse in Prenzlauerberg (encapsulated mass timber, noncombustible exterior stair) and Walden 48 co-op housing project nearby in exposed mass timber and treated wood cladding.

Why are single-stair buildings actually SAFER than two stair buildings in some circumstances? It seems counter intuitive… obviously, more redundancy is better, right?

Important TOMORROW: The LA City Council is going to vote on whether to legalize single stair buildings. Opponents have launched a disinformation campaign, and we need people to give public comment in support. Will you be joining me tomorrow at 10am in City Hall?

Design study comparing single-stair vs multiple stair egress on a small 5,500 SF lot in Denver: (L) double-loaded corridor •71% efficiency •(4) units (R) single-stair •87% efficiency •(4) dual-aspect units

Week 2 On a tiny corner lot in Boston, Condor Street Housing shows how much a single stair can do. A small elevator makes every unit barrier-free, linked by a short corridor to meet code. Even on one of the tightest sites, the plan delivers safe and accessible homes.

Behold the power of single stair

My first Starter Pack! The Canadian urbanism and planning community on here is growing. Give these folks a follow. Some well known faces … and some you should get to know! (please re-post!) go.bsky.app/AEYL7FZ

I had a good conversation with Joe Kelly on his Mass Construction Show podcast about single-stair. It’s for construction/code/fire folks, so it was more technical than most.

A new state has joined the single-stair club: New Hampshire now allows four stories of multifamily, four units per floor, with a single stair. And it’s the cleanest code section there is – same conditions as for three stories. www.centerforbuilding.org/trackers?tra...

LA's City Planning department thinks single stairs would be great for Los Angeles:

Greater Toronto got its Greenbelt in 2005. It took 20 years for the City of Toronto to partially legalize sixplexes. I think, if you want a greenbelt, you need to legalize substantial density *first*. Not just sixplexes. Single-stair mid-rises everywhere (high-rises around all subway stations).

Yesterday, Laurence Holland and Kevin Bridgman of KPMB Architects wrote an article on the principles of the Downsview Urban Design Guidelines... They note: "If Canadian building codes are reformed to permit single-stair egress up to six floors,..." (see thread) www.kpmb.com/insight/the-...

"Canada must remove barriers with the European Union to more deeply integrate Canada's economy with the EU in order to reduce our dependence on the US" 🟢 Agree: 85% 🔴 Disagree: 12% open.substack.com/pub/canadian...

Would someone like to guess what all these Spanish apartment buildings have in common that makes them illegal to build in most of North America?

Single stair Swiss high rise. 23 floors of apartments. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (!!!) bedroom homes. Large, functional balconies. Solar protection. This proposal didn't even win the competition. I don't love all of the concrete, but imagine this building made of timber. afasiaarchzine.com/2025/07/rank...

Many North American cities spend more on transit expansion than cities in Europe and Asia, but get very little transit built because they are not efficient at building transit. Toronto, LA, Seattle, NY are probably the worst offenders.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists urge support of Berkeley’s middle housing ordinance.

Me when my local chicago housing nerd running for senate starts talking about single stair reform: 🎶 “Show that wonky metric, white boy”

Die Konsequenz der Pflicht zu zwei Treppenhäusern ist natųrlich, dass alle Mehrfamilienhäuser sehr sehr groß sind, damit sich das auch lohnt.

This month's AN Focus features Milan's 8-story, 16-unit Vanvitelli apartments by ebpc with great "cross-ventilating units" but... fails to mention the highlighted project is illegal to build anywhere in the U.S. because it exceeds single-stair stair height provisions.

8-story single stair social housing in paris w/ structural stone, and a small courtyard. wood windows. active solar protection. family sized homes ~$215k per home www.archdaily.com/1030342/prad...

Today, along with other housing advocates, I joined Colorado's @govofco.bsky.social as he signed his Smart Stair legislation legalizing 5-story single stair housing in the state. Let's goooo

Switzerland, once again allowing single stair (per species) taller than everyone else

Some might find it hard to get excited about an "Embodied Greenhouse Gas Symposium," but I certainly did; it pushed all of my buttons, from upfront carbon to sufficiency to simplicity to single-stair designs (with @holz-bau.bsky.social Mike Eliason as keynote speaker.)

The two single-stair stars, @conradspeckert.bsky.social and @holz-bau.bsky.social together at last and appropriately dressed.

Behold.

The top of @conradspeckert.bsky.social’s single-stair height limit chart get a lot of attention – Switzerland’s unlimited! – but the bottom is interesting too. Who’s down there with Canada, Chicago, and the U.S. model code? Uganda, Pakistan, Rwanda, and South Africa secondegress.ca/Jurisdictions

UPDATE: Montana's single-stair bill has passed both chambers and is moving to Governor Gianforte's desk. The bill could serve as a model for future states seeking outright adoption six story single-stair building code amendments. legiscan.com/MT/bill/SB21... bsky.app/profile/sean...

AUSTIN OFFICIALLY LEGALIZES 5-STORY SINGLE-STAIR APARTMENTS WITH A 10-1 VOTE!!! 🏗️🏬 This makes Austin the 2nd largest city outside of NYC to legalize single-stair apartments! Massive day for Austin and massive thanks to @CMChitoVela for taking the charge on this!

I don’t like this new $2.6 million single family home that was built a block from a Brown Line station. 4o made a single stair passivhaus multifamily building to replace it

Hey planners, architects and developers Check out singlestair.ca (a project of @conradspeckert.bsky.social and LGA Architects) A whole trove of info, including 6 prototype buildings of different sizes, with comparisons between single stair vs scissor stair etc.

Next week, BSH researcher Conrad Speckert will be speaking on a panel with @canurb.bsky.social to explore single-stair designs for #middlehousing. Drawing from his research with Nik Luka, Conrad's work has already shaped provincial building codes—and could influence national standards.

Tired of doom scrolling? I think you need an hour of top quality "F yeah, single stair!" featuring @blairscorgie.bsky.social, Alkarim Devani of Mddl, @smallhousing.bsky.social, & Janna Levitt from LGA Architects - and me. March 20 @canurb.bsky.social us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The winning submissions and honorable mentions exhibiting an inspiring variety of designs for Denver can be viewed on the competition website: architecturecompetitions.com/pointaccessb...

I wrote about the new frontier in land use reform: building codes slate.com/business/202...

Well, we told @cityofvancouver.bsky.social council that new info on single stair buildings was coming soon… and here, the next day, is a big report from the Pew Charitable Trust * Quotes below… *based on a ton of legwork by @stephenjacobsmith.com and others www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-...

Single-Stair Vermont Edition: Burlington's Hood Plant condos are made possible by VT's unique building code that use NFPA egress requirements and allow taller single-stair housing than the IBC •4 stories + basement •9 condos •2 & 3 bed units (1200sf-1900sf) •1 stair cc: @stephenjacobsmith.com

Just signed up to talk about #SingleStair at Vancouver council on wed. Some staff are trying to kill it. Please speak or write: council.vancouver.ca/20250226/psp... @seanjurs.bsky.social @conradspeckert.bsky.social @holz-bau.bsky.social @thetransitguy.com @Lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy

This month's Architect's Newspaper includes a great feature on single-stair reform efforts to improving housing quality and affordability. Included are interviews with @stephenjacobsmith.com @holz-bau.bsky.social @conradspeckert.bsky.social and Austin City Councilmember Chito Vela.

I can’t believe it - after years of advocacy, exclusionary zoning has ended in Cambridge. We just passed the single most comprehensive rezoning in the US—legalizing multifamily housing up to 6 stories citywide in a Paris style Here’s the details 🧵

There’s a statute in Florida that grants a 35% density bonus for developments that implement greywater recycling. Greywater recycling can reduce the burden on municipal water supply and sewer infrastructure by as much as 50%, based on US water-use data.

A month into congestion pricing and my bus commute into NYC is consistently 15-20 min faster each way, no matter what time of day I travel. It has given me 40 minutes of my life back. I work in midtown and crossing the street is no longer gridlock.