The other thing to consider is that all the buildings requiring two staircases will also require sprinkler systems. Bearing in mind how many people die in sprinklered buildings (i.e., hardly any), what is the actual return of safety Vs cost then?
All residential buildings over 4 storeys should have an alternative stair escape route, or be sprinklered. Falling from above 4 stories has a greater than 50% chance of death. Fire brigade tall ladders should not be relied on because the fire brigade is always over-stretched. Sir Frederick Gibberd was one of the worst protagonists for single stair, multi-storey flats, from the 1920s, when people obviously didn't know any better. And I'm afraid it carries on a shameful tradition of tenement buildings in Britain going back to mill-worker housing and before, because his model got adopted post-war for mass housing, and now we have, I believe, c.40,000 hi-rise buildings in Britain with no sprinklers and just one stair... along with a privatised and broken building regulations system, bent contractors (and mainly half qualified technicians, if your lucky & it's not just the contractor) re-cladding and designing new buildings to the orders of clients who only want to save money and don't care about safety. If you want to promote pack'm & stack'm ideas of tall buildings people can't get out of in an emergency, you should justify your views to the family of Gloria Trevisan and the people of Grenfell Tower. I know, because I've designed residential towers, and the clients were never willing to pay for sprinklers or an escape stair. And as a designer, you have no choice unless you move on.
The other thing to consider is that all the buildings requiring two staircases will also require sprinkler systems. Bearing in mind how many people die in sprinklered buildings (i.e., hardly any), what is the actual return of safety Vs cost then?
All residential buildings over 4 storeys should have an alternative stair escape route, or be sprinklered. Falling from above 4 stories has a greater than 50% chance of death. Fire brigade tall ladders should not be relied on because the fire brigade is always over-stretched. Sir Frederick Gibberd was one of the worst protagonists for single stair, multi-storey flats, from the 1920s, when people obviously didn't know any better. And I'm afraid it carries on a shameful tradition of tenement buildings in Britain going back to mill-worker housing and before, because his model got adopted post-war for mass housing, and now we have, I believe, c.40,000 hi-rise buildings in Britain with no sprinklers and just one stair... along with a privatised and broken building regulations system, bent contractors (and mainly half qualified technicians, if your lucky & it's not just the contractor) re-cladding and designing new buildings to the orders of clients who only want to save money and don't care about safety. If you want to promote pack'm & stack'm ideas of tall buildings people can't get out of in an emergency, you should justify your views to the family of Gloria Trevisan and the people of Grenfell Tower. I know, because I've designed residential towers, and the clients were never willing to pay for sprinklers or an escape stair. And as a designer, you have no choice unless you move on.