Appeal 34901

OSSC 1028.2 Exit Discharge Exception 1.1

1028.2 Exit Discharge
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 combined use of Exceptions 1 and 2 shall not exceed 50 percent of the number and minimum width or required capacity of the required exits.
Exceptions:

1. Not more than 50 percent of the number and minimum width or required capacity of interior exit stairways and ramps is permitted to egress through areas, including atriums, on the level of discharge provided that all of the following conditions are met:

1.1. Discharge of interior exit stairways and ramps shall be provided with a free and unobstructed path of travel to an exterior exit door and such exit is readily visible and identifiable from the point of termination of the enclosure.

Request determination that the introduction of a required door (105A) into the unrated portion of the Exit Discharge between Gridlines 1 and 2 (colored Blue in the attached Exhibit) is the best solution to preserve the intent of OSSC 1028.2 Exception 1.1 for a “free and unobstructed path of travel” readily visible and identifiable from the termination of exit stair door 105B to the Exit.

The project consists of 4 stories of apartments on a standard 50x100 lot. The ground floor plan (Exhibit 1) shows the extent and type of Egress Components used to discharge to SE Division Street. Both Stair 1 and 2 are 2hr-rated per PFC D106.7. The two stairs egress in the following ways:

• Stair 1 exits through Door 105B into an unprotected Lobby per OSSC 1028.2, Exception 1. The unprotected Lobby opens via Door 105A to an unprotected exterior courtyard, which sits approximately 19’-6” from the property line along SE Division Street. Together, the Lobby and Courtyard provide an unprotected path of travel to the Exit along the sidewalk. There are windows on either side of the double doors providing clear visual access to the street. The Exit is considered to be the line along Gridline D, where occupants emerge from under cover of the building above at the Right-of-Way.

• Stair 2 exits via Door 112C into a 2hr-rated Egress Passageway, that discharges directly to an Exit (Door 112A) along the Right-of-Way.

Finally, a 1hr-rated corridor connects the unrated Lobby to the 2hr-rated Exit Passageway and is separated from adjacent spaces by Door 105C (20min-rated) and Door 112B (90min-rated). The corridor is provided with a protected path to the Exit Discharge through a 2hr-rated Egress Pathway along the east side of the building.

The intent of the design is to discharge Stair 1 and the Corridor (via Door 105C) through a non-rated intervening space to the Building Exit. Due to the City’s determination that exterior spaces under cover of the floor above are considered interior spaces for purposes of Exiting, the Building Exit along the west side of the building occurs at the property line along SE Division Street at grid line D (see Exhibit 1).

The reason for the Alternate is due to the various constraints on the location of Door 105A. If Door 105A were located along Gridline D, and there were no Open Courtyard, then areas shown in Blue on Exhibit 1 would be a contiguous interior conditioned space and no Appeal would be needed. Unfortunately, the door cannot be pushed to the front of the building because:
• There would be no room for required short-term bike parking;
• PGE has dictated the location of the meters as shown, and requires them to be accessed directly from the exterior of the building; and
• The project needs to provide Outdoor Planting Area as shown to satisfy Zoning Code requirements.

Working together with our reviewer, the team explored various other options:
• The team explored moving Door 105A north, to Gridline C. Stair 1 would have egressed directly to the Courtyard. However, this solution pushes the Building Entrance (under the Planning Code) to more than 20’ from the street, which is not permitted. Door 105A is as far north as it is allowed to go, and the current design maintains an interior connection between the Lobby and Stair 1 which is desirable for the residents.
• The team also looked at designating the exterior portion of the area in Blue as an Exit Passageway. The difficulty with this approach is that the placement of the Electrical Meters and the Short-term Bike Parking both violate OSSC 1024.1: “an exit passageway shall not be used for any purpose other than as a means of egress and a circulation path.”

Working closely with our reviewer, we determined that it was impossible to move Door 105 given the various restraints imposed by the different Codes and that the most intuitive solution was to file the Appeal described herein. Along the way, Door 105 was redesigned to be a full-glass, double door for enhanced exiting capacity and the design team provided full-height windows on either side of the door for enhanced visibility (previously, the entrance was a single-leaf door and the wall south of Door 105B was solid). Occupants exiting Stair 1 will have a clear line of sight to the street, as well as an Exit Sign over Door 105A. Door 105A and 105B are 5 feet apart. There is a clear line of travel from Door 105C (at the Corridor) to Door 105A that provides clear visibility in the event of an emergency.

The building needs an entry door, but no obstruction is permitted in the Exit Discharge per OSSC 1028.2 Exception 1.1. From a Code perspective, the Blue area is considered as one continuous, unrated intervening space with a door in the middle of it. The introduction of a door is necessary to maintain the building’s thermal envelope and (due to Planning Code constraints) cannot move from its shown location. The design team has minimized the impact of this door by increasing its width and providing ample glass to maximize views to the Building Exit. For all these reasons, we request that the determination be granted.