In Canadian Architect, I write out 10 case studies of housing innovation in Canada, from single-stair multiplexes to Indigenous-led city-building and rapid-assembly panelization. www.canadianarchitect.com/housing-in-a...
Hawarden Apartment Building
Gladstone Apartment Building
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.
"The kinds of multifamily we build most of, where many homes share a common internal corridor, is actually vastly more dangerous than single-stair buildings which are smaller and have fewer residents per corridor or stair."
commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/the-...
Correct, it’s offering redundancy. However the probability of corridors serving 10-20 homes per floor being blocked in a large two stair building is way higher than the probability of the single exit stair being blocked in a small building with 20 homes total (max 4 per storey). Hence much safer.
Mr. Eliason, who advocates allowing single-stair construction for small multifamily buildings as a solution to the housing crisis, said he learned how common the design was outside the United States while working in Germany in 2019. After seeing an 11-story tower his firm at the time had designed, Mr. Eliason recalled, he turned to his boss and said: "Something is wrong here. Where's your other stair?" "He's looking at me, and said: 'What are you talking about? If there was another stair, there wouldn't be any room for the homes'"
Single-stair gets the New York Times treatment. @holz-bau.bsky.social reminds us why they call the last line the kicker: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b... (gift link)
But none of them at 4-6 storeys are sprinklered. Wood (behind 1-hr gypsum) +sprinklers is safer for egress than concrete/masonry without sprinklers.
In the second issue of EXPO, I look at the history of the condominium in Canada. Why did condos become the primary mode of delivering multi-unit urban housing? Why did we build so many? And what happens now that nobody's buying?
'Fully embracing the single-stair model would improve life in Toronto & beyond by enabling the design of buildings w/ abundant natural light, cross-ventilation, & more generous layouts, and by also supporting the formation of stronger, intergenerational social bonds'
www.kpmb.com/insight/how-...
Vancouver stair width is not increased, Vancouver Building By-Law is 1100mm. The city has it’s own code. Only the British Columbia provincial code is 1500mm, though there is no technical basis to support the width given the extremely low occupant load.
Just went through this for some freelance writing for an American-owned Canadian magazine and was hell to figure out which boxes to tick on that form
Doug Ford said it had to close because the roof was unstable.
Massive snow dump, roof just fine.
Doug Ford lies.
A good graphic to explain all is in the LGA Mid-Rise Manual report
OBC 3.2.2.51 - 6 storeys
Interesting floor plan that shows what mitigations are possible that are not a second stair or sprinklers (neither of which are common in new apartment buildings in France). The lower floors have a short double-loaded corridor with five units of up to 4BR, which I... divisare.com/projects/548...
It is.
Updated to include changes in City of Vancouver, recent change from 16 to 20 storeys in Sweden, and permissions for existing buildings in Nova Scotia.
secondegress.ca/Jurisdictions
For context, the $150,000 is is in reference to high buildings (at 25 storeys, this would be $6,000 per storey annually, or $500 monthly), at 200 sq.ft per storey in floor area savings, this is $2 net rent (back in 2008). Adjust for today’s rents and applicable building height to do today’s math.
"In a residential building, the use of a single staircase results in increased revenues of app. $ 150,000 per year. However, single means of escape requires additional fire protection and a cost-benefit analysis could show which fire safety design solutions that has the lowest life cycle cost."
"Most building codes require two separate means of escape. This is not a preferable option for the property owner, who finances the construction work. Minimising non-rentable space is of great importance and therefore it is very attractive to have as few stairwells as possible."
Fascinating 2008 paper on "Redefining fire safety in Swedish high-rise buildings" speaks to risk-informed design of single exit stair high-rise buildings in Sweden, featuring the Turning Torso (54 storeys, residential/offices) and the Kista Science Tower (31 storeys, offices)
wuz.se/wp-content/p...
Rad Building
A new bombshell modeling report by the State of Minnesota has found that small single-stair buildings with smoke-separated stairwells are likely to be SIGNIFICANTLY SAFER than typical double-loaded apartment buildings
The national code requires a 9.0m distance between doorways, but the prescriptive code also allows the floor areas to be divided by a fire separation and then the 9.0m isn’t required. Not an alternative solution, but an alternative in the sense that hardly anyone is aware it is available in the code
Incorrect. Scissor stairs are permitted by prescriptive code language across Canada, except only that Vancouver did not permit scissor stairs in wood-frame construction until this amendment, and Ontario did not permit combustible construction of exit enclosures till 2023.
Vancouver city councilor, Sarah Kirby Yung said, “Why can’t we have interesting buildings on smaller lots? Once you see it, You can’t unsee it.”
This change will also facilitate the advancement of housing projects such as the "AIR studio pilot project" as there is now an established set of performance requirements to which alternative solution proposals for single exit stair designs can be compared and evaluated.
singlestair.ca/AIR-studio
“During a fire or emergency, stairwells are the critical lifelines for residents and first responders,” said Karen Fry, Vancouver Fire Chief. “The two new stair design options maintain a good level of protection needed to keep those pathways safe while supporting new housing options for Vancouver.”
“Vancouverites deserve buildings and neighbourhoods that are both safe and full of possibility,” said Mayor Ken Sim. “Modernizing our building rules is about making practical, forward-thinking changes that protect people and support more housing options.”
