The L.A. City Council is on the brink of changing its building code so that buildings of up to six stories tall could have a single-stairway exit. Fire officials and others say a key safety measure would be lost.
The odds that you die because your six story building only has one staircase may be low. The odds that someone dies because six story buildings only require one staircase is 100%.
This is part of a major rethinking of how code impacts density and whether it is worth it for certain design forms.
There is a cost to safety and it is used to evaluate whether it is worth it given the odds.
The odds that you die because your six story building only has one staircase may be low. The odds that someone dies because six story buildings only require one staircase is 100%.
And if the cost of all the stairwells is $100,000,000, is that life worth it?