Colinfill said:
It's cool to see a building with the public corridor being part of the exterior. I remember seeing this all over London and wondered why they didn't do that here in Calgary. Likely due to the weather and upkeep here, but I would think you could create some savings by not having to heat these spaces during the winter.
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Maybe not. Exterior surfaces lose heat so increasing the area exposed to the elements mighr actually be worse.
 
CBBarnett said:
I never really got why Calgary doesn't have more of the outdoor corridors/stair either (besides that we have a bunch of random different planning regulations that discourages buildings from considering it and now no one remembers why we have those rules in the first place).

Seems common in many places, notably Montreal with several times the snow and ice concerns of Calgary:

All the classic Montreal walkups have no interior/shared hallways. I haven't seen numbers to prove this, but it would make sense to me that maximizing interior rentable/usable space and minimizing interior non-rentable/useable space (e.g. hallways) you would end up with a cheaper and more efficient building to maintain and operate, net of a bit of extra shovelings in the winter.
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We're not really building many new duplex buildings today like the old style you've referenced from Montreal, but even when done so, there isn't a shared hallway either. The lower unit gets their own ground level access and the upper level gets a grade entry door and internal staircase utilizing some space carved out of the grade level of the lower unit. As a single ownership unit on an upper level, shoveling snow, and de-icing regularly on a lengthy exposed external stair and landing seems low on desirability for most. It's also an element of ownership to the upper unit, but covers the facade of lower unit, shadowing it and at risk of being unsightly, reducing the value of the unit it's not a party to.

Shifting principles to multifamily, think old motels with this configuration. Increased exterior maintenance and long term replacement exceeds replacing some interior carpet and paint. External corridors are bad for privacy of the units as residents must pass by the windows of many of the units to reach their unit. Where do balconies situate when you have external corridors. Motels don't need balconies, but condos/apartments do. You also need elevators, and in Canada waiting for an elevator in the outdoors in February isn't a pleasant experience. Ok in Vegas, but not in Calgary. So you might as well have interior corridors off of internal elevators.

There are some condo developments in Calgary that have done this with courtyards or corridors facing inwards. Vento in Bridgeland, the elevator takes you to a 2nd level exterior courtyard that the two storey units front with their own patio and external access. At The Block in Lower Mount Royal, some of the units are off external corridors adjacent to the internal courtyard.

Interior corridors also break common walls reducing number of immediately adjacent units for noise transfer. Interior corridors provide passive ventilation and cooling in some buildings. I don't see how a building with no internal corridors becomes cheaper and more efficient to maintain.

Beltline_B said:
I bet you're correct in that it's some sort of outdated planning regulation. It would allow more interior for 3 storey rowhome developments if they could do that.
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How does an external stair impact a 3 storey rowhome development? You need an internal staircase in each unit to begin with, so I see no added benefit to an additional exterior stair in increasing square footage.
 
appears something is going on here

C4768577-7A8A-4218-89A8-D95F5D8634AC.jpeg
 
Colinfill said:
It's cool to see a building with the public corridor being part of the exterior. I remember seeing this all over London and wondered why they didn't do that here in Calgary. Likely due to the weather and upkeep here, but I would think you could create some savings by not having to heat these spaces during the winter.
Click to expand...
CBBarnett said:
I never really got why Calgary doesn't have more of the outdoor corridors/stair either (besides that we have a bunch of random different planning regulations that discourages buildings from considering it and now no one remembers why we have those rules in the first place).

Seems common in many places, notably Montreal with several times the snow and ice concerns of Calgary:

All the classic Montreal walkups have no interior/shared hallways. I haven't seen numbers to prove this, but it would make sense to me that maximizing interior rentable/usable space and minimizing interior non-rentable/useable space (e.g. hallways) you would end up with a cheaper and more efficient building to maintain and operate, net of a bit of extra shovelings in the winter.
Click to expand...
I think the question would be why those cities London, Montreal etc.. don't do those anymore? I'm not against those outdoor corridors, and would like to see them here, but there might be a reason other than building codes, as they aren't doing them in those cities either.
 
CBBarnett said:
I never really got why Calgary doesn't have more of the outdoor corridors/stair either (besides that we have a bunch of random different planning regulations that discourages buildings from considering it and now no one remembers why we have those rules in the first place).

Seems common in many places, notably Montreal with several times the snow and ice concerns of Calgary:

View attachment 326464

All the classic Montreal walkups have no interior/shared hallways. I haven't seen numbers to prove this, but it would make sense to me that maximizing interior rentable/usable space and minimizing interior non-rentable/useable space (e.g. hallways) you would end up with a cheaper and more efficient building to maintain and operate, net of a bit of extra shovelings in the winter.
Click to expand...
I like those Montreal apartments, they're very practical, and have a cool funkiness to them, but... To be honest the front stairwells are butt ugly, and almost always the area around them is cluttered. Is the reason they don't do them anymore an aesthetics issue? If you're planning a new development where you have to sell the units, maybe it's a tough sell? I dunno.
 
Robo said:
I like those Montreal apartments, they're very practical, and have a cool funkiness to them, but... To be honest the front stairwells are butt ugly, and almost always the area around them is cluttered. Is the reason they don't do them anymore an aesthetics issue? If you're planning a new development where you have to sell the units, maybe it's a tough sell? I dunno.
Click to expand...
Accessibility nightmare.
 
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