[ksplicer]

Even our wood has so much fire safety chemicals baked in now that it's not nearly as flammable as it used to be. The safety standards should be reevaluated. Plus, I'm sure that there are some developers who would happily build the whole MFH out of concrete if it lets them only use a single stair.

[seanmcdirmid]

Concrete construction is expensive in the states, although I'm not sure why. 4+1s are common here in Seattle: first story is concrete and commercial, 4 stories on top of that are wooden (we also have the more liberal stair requirements, so I'm not sure what is really going on).

Concrete construction is the common way to build in China (and anywhere in Asia sans Japan), but the techniques they use require a bit of overbuilding and limit their towers to around 34 or so stories. Still, they have two stair cases side by side in those buildings (but I guess given the height, they need them by Chinese fire code standards).

[shiroiuma]

>Concrete construction is the common way to build in China (and anywhere in Asia sans Japan)

Concrete-reinforced steel is absolutely common here in Japan. Wood is used for single-family homes, though, but anything larger is generally concrete+steel.

>but the techniques they use require a bit of overbuilding and limit their towers to around 34 or so stories.

Modern condo towers around me here in Tokyo are frequently 50 stories AFAICT. And that's with extremely strict building codes for earthquake protection. I can't tell you about the stairs though, as I don't live in one.

[seanmcdirmid]

I was in Tokyo recently and didn’t see much talk building growth m, maybe I didn’t go to the right neighborhoods.

China leveraged construction techniques that use unskilled and lower skilled migrant labor, so building height is limited. Other countries that import Chinese and Indian to build (like Singapore) get similar limitations.