Single-Stair Design and Co-op Housing: Rethinking Urban Blocks

The article explores two trends reshaping urban housing: single-stair egress and co-op/courtyard developments. Single-stair design, already common in cities like New York, Seattle, and Barcelona, is gaining traction in Canada as a way to enable smaller, more efficient apartment buildings with better daylight and cross-ventilation. Vancouver changed its code in January 2024, and British Columbia followed in 2024 allowing up to six storeys. Toronto and Edmonton have created guidance documents. A risk analysis for Minnesota found eight-storey single-stair buildings as safe as four-storey ones. LGA Architectural Partners led pilot projects across Canada, with five approved for construction. The second part highlights 2444 Eglinton (Kennedy Green) in Toronto, Canada's largest co-op housing development in 30 years, designed by Henriquez Partners Architects with 612 co-op units and 306 affordable units. The Neptis Foundation's book 'On the Courtyard' by Gabriel Fain Architects and Studio VAARO imagines Toronto courtyard housing inspired by European precedents like Degli Esposti Architetti's Domus Thalia in Milan.