Reprising this post because folks keep asking me about it via email, etc.

These thresholds fit a three story apartment building or mixed use building into the fire/life safety requirements of the International Building Code (IBC) and the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act.

1. All ground floor units are accessible/adaptable (minimum one unit). 2. TYPE V wood frame construction with fire sprinklers. 3. When built with a single stair, upper stories are limited to four units each. (more than 4 units on a floor and two stair will be required separated by a rated corridor at least 1/2 the diagonal of the building floor plate in length --1/3 for buildings with fire sprinklers.) 4. 2nd floor units are limited in size to 125′ max. exiting distance from the furthest point inside the unit to the entry door. 5. 3rd floor units are limited in size to 125′ max. exiting distance from the furthest point inside the unit to the entry door. (3rd floor units can be two story units with internal stairs as long as the max. exiting distance of 125' is observed).

Code research and design by David Kim

A comment from Will Dowdy:

This is a good summary. It’s probably worth being explicit about that ground floor unit. If you don’t have a unit on the ground floor, the requirement for accessibility is shifted to the second floor of the building, which means that you’re stuck with an elevator. BIG problem. This design is an elegant solution.

A Residential Liner Building has a few jobs it needs to do well.

• Hide the parking lot from the street.
• Provide reasonable privacy for the folks who are living on the ground floor.
• Fit into the local context (not stick out).

The Hutchinson Green Apartments designed by my able partner David Kim, do a good job with all three.    The ground floor is raised from the sidewalk, but the ground floor units are still accessible with zero-step entries from the rear (which is where the accessible parking is anyway).  The apartments are laid out as through units, with windows on the front and the back to provide good natural light and cross ventilation.  The scale of the buildings and the detailing of the exteriors fits in well with the existing townhouses, four-plexes, and detached houses.

Having good tools like the Residential Liner Building should help aspiring developers look at ugly surface parking lots in a whole new light.