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-...

This is a great article by @matthutchins.bsky.social on how Seattle’s new missing middle allowances can lead to a broad range of new housing options on lots previously sequestered for 1 single home. medium.com/@matthutchin...

🏠 Denver just got closer to building more housing! This week, City Council's seven member Housing Committee unanimously advanced a bill allowing 5-story single-stair buildings in a decisive 7-0 vote. Final Full Council vote: 11/24 Effective Date: 12/31/25

The next pro-housing state eyeing architectural innovation through single-stair reform: Utah kslnewsradio.com/utah/small-b...

For decades, a prime but isolated corner parking lot at 4th & Broadway in Denver's Baker neighborhood was too small for traditional development. Thanks to Denver's forthcoming single-stair code updates, KGA Architects is proposing a 5-story single-stair apt on this "forgotten lot"

Why do builders put up giant McMansions, when zoning allows a fourplex? TLDR: A host of regulations make fourplexes lose money. I read the eye-opening report. Now I'm looking forward to the podcast.

brb, I'm heading out for Guatemala City for the weekend www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/227059...

this building's floorplate is nearly half as wide as the typical new build in seattle today www.baunetz-architekten.de/studiovlay/8...

TerraEsperanza in Guatemala City shows what’s possible with the flexibility of single-stair design — a vibrant, 10-story mixed-use building on a small lot. Designed by Mexico City's Legorreta + Legorreta, the project floats above the grade plane and provides a variety of unit sizes.

AIA Tennessee Single-Stair Design Competition Finalist: Lightframe A new type of living in Knoxville. The building is centered around a central concrete core with the basic circulation needs, one stair and an elevator. Living spaces are suspended from the concrete core with steel platforms.

"States Advance Single-Stairway Reforms to Expand Housing" see also- •Small Single-Stairway Apartment Buildings Have Strong Safety Record •Single-Stair as a Path to More Affordable, Diverse, and Sustainable Housing www.pew.org/en/research-...

in q&a, the kelsey's allie cannington mentions they are excited about single stair and elevator reform - and mention how it can help get elevators into smaller projects. wow. cc @edmendoza.bsky.social @stephenjacobsmith.com @markasaurus.bsky.social thekelsey.org/learn-center...

The second egress stair in modern missing-middle housing is like your appendix; It's a remnant from long ago that no longer serves a purpose and sometimes creates real problems.

1pm, Tuesday, 11/4, Denver's City Council's Housing Committee will hear 15-minutes of public testimony on single-stair building code amenmdents. Sign up to testify here- www.denvergov.org/Government/A...

Tadao Ando's multifamily circulation strategy: Scissor stairs At the 8-story, 53-luxury unit Dubai Armani Beach Residences, the award-winning architect will utilize an exit strategy not allowed in US building code where units are clustered around vertical stair and elevator cores.