This recently constructed apartment building in east Denver was developed around a single-stair model, photographed Feb. 22, 2024. Apartments in each section of the building have access to just one stairwell. Current codes allow up to three stories to be built with apartments accessing a single stairwell, with taller buildings requiring two stairways. But the Colorado legislature is considering a bill that would allow as many as five stories with single-stair access.
In anticipation of the vote, members of the committee played the songs “Stairway to Heaven” and “Burning Down the House” over the room’s speakers. “I know single stair is safe — it’s already 30% to 40% of the building in Denver,” Valdez said before the vote. “It is also the building code in most of the countries that are, quite frankly, getting way ahead of us in terms of their public housing and their housing priorities. …
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