Appeal 23645

510.2

A building shall be considered as separate and distinct buildings for the purpose of determining area limitations, continuity of fire walls, limitation of number of stories and type of construction where all of the following conditions are met:

3.Shaft, stairway, ramp and escalator enclosures through the horizontal assembly shall have not less than a 2-hour fire-resistance rating with opening protectives in accordance with Section 716.

The intent of the appeal is to have an open stair at the type IA podium level at the residential lobby.

Provide open stair at 1st floor that transitions to an enclosed stair at floors 2-4. Enclosure at floors 2-4 to be 2-hr rated as required by the code. The stair is a required Exit due to the Exit Access Travel distance limit of 250’. Without this stair the longest exit access is approximately 330’ (SW corner unit to NW stair).

Protection at 1st floor:
• Provide smoke curtain around open sides of stair.
• Add smoke detector at 1st floor lobby.
• Provide fixed glazing at single window in stair from office (needed for security) glass to be fire rated glass or water curtain sprinkler protection at non-fire rated. Sprinklers such as Tyco Type WS to be installed per manufacturer's specifications to provide glazing with 2-hour protection. (A separate permit from the Fire Marshal’s Office is required.)
• Open sides of stairs to be provided with water curtain sprinkler protection. Sprinklers such as Tyco Type WS to be installed per manufacturer's specifications to provide 2-hour protection. (A separate permit from the Fire Marshal’s Office is required.)
• At bottom of stair occupants can exit directly out main front door or exit to the west through a 1-hour corridor with 20-minute doors. The corridor is not required to be rated per the occupancy but proposed as 1-hr for added protection.
• Distance from the bottom of the stair to the exit door is less than 20’ with no obstructions.
• Area under stair will be sprinklered, a built-in platform will prevent furniture from being installed in the area.
• Provide exit sign at main lobby door, not required by code.
• Meet requirements of 1028.1 Exit Discharge, only 25% of stairs are exiting through another area.
• There are no areas below the level of exit discharge.
• The horizontal stair shaft opening area is 2,402 sf, the vertical opening at 1st floor is 3,197 sf facing the lobby and 1,260 sf facing the corridor. Per 1019.3-4 an Exit Access Stair is allowed to have vertical opening area as long as it does not exceed twice the horizontal stair opening area. The proposed vertical opening area is ~345 sf less than twice the stair horizontal opening, the proposed design would comply with 1019.3-4. This is not an Exit Access Stair.
• The lobby is a circulation area, without any regular occupancy use to add to the fire hazard.
Protection at floors 2-4:
• Doors in exit enclosure to be 120-minute, code requires 90-minute.
• Add smoke detector outside stair door at each floor for this stair.
• Corridors at floors 2-4 are 1-hr rated and fully sprinklered, code only requires 0.5 hours per Table 1020.1.
• Stair only has ~53 occupants from each floor.
General Conditions of Building:
• 4 stairs in building, this in only stair exiting through a lobby.
• Building is 1-story IA construction with 3-stories of VA above. Podium construction is required due to overall building area exceeding allowable with VA alone.
• The building complies with Aerial Access requirements from Highway 30 side, without using the Portland Alternatives.

The alternate is required to allow the open lobby stair at level 1. It will provide a lobby with increased visibility which benefits the operator of the building from a safety perspective. They will be able to see the courtyard and children’s area from their office located behind the stair. Increased visibility also benefits the mental health of residents that have experienced trauma; which is common for those in supportive housing.

The podium building that meets all of the requirements of 510.2. The baffles will provide draft curtain protection to the stair enclosure above and the fire sprinklers will be closely spaced around the stair opening creating the equivalent fire and smoke protection as a 2-hr wall with 90-minute door.

1028.1

Exits shall discharge directly to the exterior of the building. The exit discharge shall be at grade or shall provide a direct path of egress travel to grade. The exit discharge shall not reenter a building.

The intent of the appeal is to allow the residential units in the courtyard, and the courtyard occupants, to exit through the lobby and corridor/stair to reach the public right-of-way in the event of a fire.

During egress, the exit at the units will discharge into the exterior courtyard and then exit from the courtyard by reentering the building, then discharge again to the sidewalk leading to the public way. The lobby and exit access corridor will have no furniture and therefore be part of an unobstructed egress path to the right of way. The exit access corridor is 1-hour rated enclosure. The ground level units and the building are part of the type IA podium and are both of non-combustible construction and fully sprinklered.

The lobby exit has glazing facing the courtyard and the street so there is a clear view from the courtyard to the street. In addition, this is the primary entrance to the building so occupants will be familiar with the exit path.

The exit access corridor will be a 1-hour corridor that leads to the 2-hr rated stair enclosure. The stair enclosure egress to the plaza space which will have free movement and egress lighting to the ROW.

Exiting through the lobby and exit access corridor are as safe as the 2nd-4th floor units exiting through the interior corridor and 2-hour stair enclosures. The ground floor units will have an accessible means of egress without having to use stairs.

The alternate is required to allow egress from the courtyard to the public way. Because the courtyard is surrounded by residential units, lobby space and a garage it is not possible for them to exit from their unit into the building (eg. a corridor). Their unit exit is directly to the courtyard. Due to the nature of a courtyard it is not possible for the units at grade to have direct access to the ROW without reenting the building in order to egress. Although the courtyard is ‘exterior’ it is fully enclosed by the building except at the top where it is open to the sky.

Because the lobby and exit access corridor are within the non-combustible, fully sprinklered type IA construction they will provide enough protection during the period of building reentry until a person is able to re-exit the building.