When American egress and zoning codes meet BIG knockoff buildings

Chicago has introduced building code reform to allow scissor stairs in multifamily by right up to 15 floors/150 feet: chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matt...

The Council just passed legislation to allow single-stair and single-entrance apartment buildings up to six stories in DC. Allowing single-stair buildings: ✅ Reduces housing construction costs ✅ Enables housing on narrow city lots ✅ Facilitates more family-sized units The bill passed unanimously.

'X-MU-X' by Dr. Damian Madigan First Prize - Denver Affordable Housing Challenge The author of 'The Bluefield Housing Book', Madigan lays out a design-led framework for Denver that boosts housing density without losing historic charm. architecturecompetitions.com/denverhousing/

What's nice about working for Nithya is that she's as big of a housing nerd as I am

This month, Colorado's Building Dialogue Magazine is highlighting the housing opportunities created by Denver's new single-stair code. cdn.etype.services/Production_P...

379 affordable apartments and 146 parking spaces in 7- and 9-story buildings on a brownfield site in Zurich for just 150 million CHF – under $300 per gross sq. ft., $400k/unit for a mix of 1-4BR apartments. Completed in July. www.swiss-arc.ch/de/projekt/w...

Great single stair article on Fast Company today highlighting Seattle and the broader movement around the country to change building codes www.fastcompany.com/91513043/the...

Despite a massive shortage of units, "Affordable" housing is now more expensive than market-rate housing in several major U.S. cities. I'm not an expert but it feels like U.S. housing industry is broken. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

San Jose FD, for the CAL FIRE single-stair report, did a simulation of evacuation from a building, both in a stairway segregated from firefighters going up and then shared. It was an interesting Rohrschach test for the group – the FDs thought it looked really bad, the others thought it was fine.

Not the headline I would have gone with. Buildings can be safer with one stair than with two, especially if you reduce the length of the corridor and number of apartments per floor.

Today's NYT article highlights this map of dozens of Seattle single stair projects located on small lot across the city that can serve as a model for better livability across the U.S. www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...

pretty incredible to wake up and find myself and @stephenjacobsmith.com in the @nytimes.com talking about better and more cost effective housing with point access blocks (single stair apartment buildings) www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b...

The report from the State Fire Marshal stresses that IF state legislators want to raise the single stair maximum, they should go no higher than four stories. Meanwhile, @votealexlee.bsky.social has a spot bill to allow single-stair apts "with 4 or more stories." calmatters.org/housing/2026...

happening tomorrow: "Using Design Competitions to Improve the Quality of Housing: A Roundtable Discussion" Hosted by Harvard's JCHS, the webinar will look at using competitions to improve housing and create opportunities for design professionals www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/usi...

“Rooms to Grow,” KPMB's submission to the National Single Stair Design competition promotes: ☀️ Airy layouts with lightwells 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Generational living using flexible units 🤝 Community-oriented, small-lot development. Read more in KPMB's article - www.kpmb.com/insight/how-...

really enjoyed my conversation for this with christine on single stair, how seattle ended up leading on it, why it matters (and exists everywhere else) - and why fixing building codes is so important for housing. @stephenjacobsmith.com @seanjurs.bsky.social nextcity.org/urbanist-new...

One estimate suggests that 18,000 homes a year are not being built because of the UK’s new requirement for a second stairway at 18 meters. Some are advocating to raise the limit to 50 meters, in line with global standards. archive.is/2026.02.09-1...

"A close analysis of the US building code development process reveals a system rife ... in which the costs and benefits of regulations are improperly measured (if measured at all)" -UCLA Lewis Center: Cracking the Code (Jan 2026) escholarship.org/content/qt0x...

Wisconsin's 6-story single-stair bill dropped last month with 9 bill sponsors. Oddly, the bill creates a council consisting of industry gatekeepers to author the single-stair code including an IRC expert even though 6-story projects would be under the IBC docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/related...

Bringing similar scrutiny to the building code, last year, Utah doubled the allowable number of units permitted under the residential code by allowing 4 unit residential projects. up.codes/viewer/utah/...

A California lawmaker has proposed allowing projects up to 10 units be constructed under the residential code. That's 5x more than the current IBC limit of 2 units. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTe...

Excited to see The Architect's Newspaper featuring the winners of the National Single Stair Design Competition and their amazing work. www.archpaper.com/2026/01/nati...

Apartment floor plate comparison. Standard double-loaded corridor with single-aspect units on the left. Seattle single-stair project, with triple-aspect units on the right.

This month, ULI's Urban Land magazine is featuring Seattle's BB House adaptive reuse project. Not mentioned in the article is the fact that the compact, 5-story addition is made possible with single stair egress and Seattle's unique building code. urbanland.uli.org/resilience-a...

Thanks to Seattle's unique stair code, point access blocks like the Alki Condominiums create density on small beachfront lots Located on Alki Beach, the project adds 10 units to the waterfront At 6-stories tall, the Alki Condominiums are illegal to build in most US cities

Tucked on a 9' wide lot, PituRooms is a 6-story, 7-unit hotel dubbed the 'skinniest hotel ever' Built on an overlooked lot in Indonesia, the project creates an efficient use of space and depends on a compact circulation core.

Happening tomorrow: webinar on single-stair housing led by life safety experts SGH. I am looking forward to the conversation that will explore how we need to be open to new ideas to accommodate new strategies and new ways of providing housing. Registration link: www.sgh.com/news-event/0...

Last month, I sat down with Single Stair North Carolina to discuss how Denver's single stair design competition united architects, policymakers, & community leaders. The interview explored lessons learned for communities seeking solutions to the housing crisis. singlestairnc.substack.com

Built in 1978 as the original "Seattle Special," all 15 units at the 6-story, single-stair Pike & Virginia Building overlook Puget Sound. The first new construction in the Pike Place Market historic district in 50 years, it was designed with a small footprint to meet strict urban design guidelines.

Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & County is proving what’s possible with Olympic Ridge. With a single-stair design, they’ve managed to fit 17 dual-aspect affordable condos on a incredibly narrow 35-foot wide lot in Capitol Hill. This is a masterclass in urban infill and density done right.

Last week, a reporter asked what’s next for the single-stair movement. My hope? That it does for building codes what @wesmars.bsky.social and "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" did for transit: establish that US building codes are fundamentally outdated and ready for a complete overhaul.

NEW VIDEO: North America’s Elevator’s Problem Elevators are absolutely essential to modern cities..... and it turns out North America kind of sucks at them. We partnered with @sightline.org to look into the many issues plaguing our elevator industry, and what it might take to fix it.

Built in 1978 as the original "Seattle Special," all 15 units at the 6-story, single-stair Pike & Virginia Building overlook Puget Sound. The first new construction in the Pike Place Market historic district in 50 years, it was designed with a small footprint to meet strict urban design guidelines.

single stair bill now filed in *kentucky* apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/...

Rocksresort - Laax, Switzerland by Domenig Architekten 4-story single-stair buildings - designed to look like "randomly fallen boulders"- clustered around a central square. The 11 monolithic cube-shaped buildings include 4-6 units per floor and 160 luxury apartments and a 70-unit boutique hotel.

whoa @jamestalarico.bsky.social mentions passing #SingleStair bill in texas, on @chrislhayes.bsky.social #inners #housing #affordability let's gooooo! www.larchlab.com/point-access...

East Bay for Everyone, as co-host with Livable Communities Initiative, is proud to announce the winners of the National Single Stair Design Competition: www.singlestair.com

Congrats to the ONTO Álvaro Obregón project in Mexico City for winning The Architect's Newspaper's Residential (small, multi-unit) Project of the Year. CRB Arquitectos recently completed the 8-story mass timber building that contains 59 units, a shared roof deck, and ground floor restaurant.

This week, the 'Kentucky Housing Task Force' issued a Final Report recommending key building code reforms to bring down construction costs Included is a suggestion to change state building code to allow single-stair housing(although it is already allowed up to 3-stories) www.klc.org/News/13091/k...

Another new member of the Parking + Single Stair Reform club just dropped. Congrats to Denver! Who's next?

It's official, last night Denver City Council adopted a local single-stair ordinance! Beginning December 31, 2025, 5-story single-stair housing will be permitted in Denver! www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/11/24/d...

With a unanimous city council vote, Culver City becomes California's first city to allow taller single-stair buildings www.usnews.com/news/best-st...

Somebody in the audience pointed out something that I didn’t know, which is that Queensbridge Houses, the largest NYCHA project in the city (and thereby largest public housing complex in North America), is single-stair. platform-affordable-dwelling.bk.tudelft.nl/database/201...

The people writing urban building codes aren't actually familiar with urbanism ↓↓↓

Culver City's single stair ordinance has been approved by the state, so you can now build single-stair apartment buildings up to six stories

Denver’s chief building official was interviewed about the upcoming change to the City's building code to allow taller single-stair housing that exceeds the state's minimum requirements by also allowing Type III construction businessden.com/2025/11/17/d...

alright folks - you have until midnight pacific time on 11/16 to snag my book, Building For People, for 50% off. grab an extra for your favorite mayor, council member, or legislator! and not just mine - numerous other @islandpress.bsky.social books are on sale. islandpress.org/books/buildi...

The Reason Foundation is latest organization promoting better housing policy through single-stair code reform. reason.org/commentary/t...

Pro-Housing Pittsburgh: Removing the two-staircase requirement in the building code is key to tackling Pittsburgh's housing crisis by lowering construction costs, unlocking smaller lots, and allowing more family-sized units @prohousingpgh.org www.prohousingpgh.org/blog/policy-...