1.5 ConEd Learning Hours
10:30 a.m.‐12:00 p.m
The session will focus on a proposed building code change to allow for single exit stair conditions in multi‐unit residential buildings of up to three storeys in Part 9, and six storeys in Part 3 of the NBC and OBC. The code change request was developed by LGA Architectural Partners and David Hine Fire Engineering. It is a recommendation of the 2023 National Housing Accord, the 2022 Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force, as well as the 2019 OAA Housing Affordability Task Group summary report and the City of Toronto's 2010 Midrise Performance Standards consultant report.
The earliest documented example of advocacy on this topic and the regulatory path dependency of double‐loaded corridor buildings is a 1996 essay by renowned Toronto architect Eb Zeidler titled, “Main Streets Handicapped by Building Codes.” The proposed topic is fundamental to the theme of the 2024 conference as well as addressing critical sustainability and accessibility objectives. LGA Architectural Partners recently partnered with a number of other architects and code consultants across Canada to develop alternative solutions for performance‐based building code compliance funded by the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge. For reference, www.secondegress.ca provides a summary of the graduate thesis work of Conrad Speckert at McGill University, which has evolved considerably since. Conrad has previously presented to many groups of architects across Canada.
Learning Objectives
1. Learn the history of codes development in Canada with regard to the requirement for two exit stairs in residential occupancies.
2. Learn about building codes in other jurisdictions and the resulting impact on built form.
3. Learn how alternative solutions can be used to demonstrate performance‐based code compliance with several site‐specific case studies.
4. Learn how the proposed building code change balances fire and life safety with affordability, sustainability, and accessibility for missing middle housing types.
Conrad Speckert Intern Architect
LGA Architectural Partners
Conrad Speckert is an intern architect at LGA Architectural Partners in Toronto with degrees from McGill and Waterloo. His graduate research proposed a building code change to allow for single-staircase buildings and has evolved as CMHC-funded research project to change the National Building Code of Canada. He joined LGA as project manager for “ReHousing the Yellowbelt,” a collaboration with the University of Toronto to study gentle densification and support multiplex zoning reform across residential neighbourhoods. He is well-versed in the design of “missing middle” and mid-rise residential buildings, having previously worked for architects in Toronto, Vancouver, Berlin, and Tokyo.