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Sean Jursnick

@seanjurs.bsky.social
1.4K followers 824 following 1.2K posts

Architect, housing advocate, and Emergent Ventures grant recipient

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Reposted by Sean Jursnick
Kevin Erdmann @kevinerdmann.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Austin is a canonical supply success story! In our odd era, yes, supply is what matters. open.substack.com/pub/kevinerd...
open.substack.com
In our odd era, yes, supply is what matters.
Charles Marohn at Strong Towns wrote a post the other day throwing cold water on the idea that Austin’s recent rent reductions are a sure sign of a housing supply success story.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Talking building code impacts on urban planning Stewart Hicks releases a great video about single-stair point access blocks - "How America Accidentally Banned Good Apartments" www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sfo... @holz-bau.bsky.social
youtube.com
How America Accidentally Banned Good Apartments
YouTube video by Stewart Hicks
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
"Making Small Multifamily Pencil on Urban Infill Sites" hosted next week by Cedar on 7/9 to highlight the possibilities and hurdles for small lot development. luma.com/vyt6s9mu?tk=...
luma.com
Making Small Multifamily Pencil on Urban Infill Sites · Zoom · Luma
A number of people asked us to push this back, so we’re moving the webinar to July 9th, and we’re adding Sean Borger, SVP of Capital Markets at WelcomeLend, to…
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
CNU Chicago launched a single stair design competition this week in support of proposed local and statewide single stair legislation - cnuchicago.substack.com/p/join-us-in...
cnuchicago.substack.com
Join Us in Launching Chicago’s Single-Stair Future
With single-stair legislation proposals gracing city hall and Springfield, CNU Chicago’s upcoming design competition couldn’t launch at a better time.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
When American egress and zoning codes meet BIG knockoff buildings
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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Chicago has introduced building code reform to allow scissor stairs in multifamily by right up to 15 floors/150 feet: chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matt...
chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov
Matter - Office of the City Clerk
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Alex Taliadoros @alexctaliadoros.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The Council just passed legislation to allow single-stair and single-entrance apartment buildings up to six stories in DC. Allowing single-stair buildings: ✅ Reduces housing construction costs ✅ Enables housing on narrow city lots ✅ Facilitates more family-sized units The bill passed unanimously.
Hawarden Apartment BuildingGladstone Apartment Building
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
'X-MU-X' by Dr. Damian Madigan First Prize - Denver Affordable Housing Challenge The author of 'The Bluefield Housing Book', Madigan lays out a design-led framework for Denver that boosts housing density without losing historic charm. architecturecompetitions.com/denverhousing/
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Joe Cohen @cohenhouse.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
What's nice about working for Nithya is that she's as big of a housing nerd as I am
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
This month, Colorado's Building Dialogue Magazine is highlighting the housing opportunities created by Denver's new single-stair code. cdn.etype.services/Production_P...
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 22/03/2026
379 affordable apartments and 146 parking spaces in 7- and 9-story buildings on a brownfield site in Zurich for just 150 million CHF – under $300 per gross sq. ft., $400k/unit for a mix of 1-4BR apartments. Completed in July. www.swiss-arc.ch/de/projekt/w...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Great single stair article on Fast Company today highlighting Seattle and the broader movement around the country to change building codes www.fastcompany.com/91513043/the...
fastcompany.com
The building code rule that lets Seattle turn forgotten lots into housing
Rethinking the building code to allow single-stairwell buildings brought more small-lot, mid-rise apartments to the city—and sparked a wider reform movement.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Despite a massive shortage of units, "Affordable" housing is now more expensive than market-rate housing in several major U.S. cities. I'm not an expert but it feels like U.S. housing industry is broken. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 04/03/2026
San Jose FD, for the CAL FIRE single-stair report, did a simulation of evacuation from a building, both in a stairway segregated from firefighters going up and then shared. It was an interesting Rohrschach test for the group – the FDs thought it looked really bad, the others thought it was fine.
youtu.be
Ingress of Firefighters conducting fire operations during the egress of building occupants
YouTube video by San José Fire Department
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Gregory Duncan @duncanarchitect.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Not the headline I would have gone with. Buildings can be safer with one stair than with two, especially if you reduce the length of the corridor and number of apartments per floor.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Today's NYT article highlights this map of dozens of Seattle single stair projects located on small lot across the city that can serve as a model for better livability across the U.S. www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
google.com
Single-Stair Housing - Seattle - Google My Maps
Seattle's single-stair housing taller than 3-stories in height
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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
pretty incredible to wake up and find myself and @stephenjacobsmith.com in the @nytimes.com talking about better and more cost effective housing with point access blocks (single stair apartment buildings) www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b...
nytimes.com
To Cut Housing Costs, Some States Are Easing Fire Safety Rules
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Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
The report from the State Fire Marshal stresses that IF state legislators want to raise the single stair maximum, they should go no higher than four stories. Meanwhile, @votealexlee.bsky.social has a spot bill to allow single-stair apts "with 4 or more stories." calmatters.org/housing/2026...
calmatters.org
California’s fire safety regulators are finally out with a 'single stair' report. They don’t love the idea
California’s fire safety regulators were asked to study whether mid-rise apartments can go with a single staircase like other countries.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
happening tomorrow: "Using Design Competitions to Improve the Quality of Housing: A Roundtable Discussion" Hosted by Harvard's JCHS, the webinar will look at using competitions to improve housing and create opportunities for design professionals www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/usi...
jchs.harvard.edu
Using Design Competitions to Improve the Quality of Housing: A Roundtable Discussion
Susanne Schindler will discuss her recent working paper about how design competitions can address the shortcomings of housing development and design services procurement processes. A roundtable with B...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
“Rooms to Grow,” KPMB's submission to the National Single Stair Design competition promotes: ☀️ Airy layouts with lightwells 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Generational living using flexible units 🤝 Community-oriented, small-lot development. Read more in KPMB's article - www.kpmb.com/insight/how-...
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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
really enjoyed my conversation for this with christine on single stair, how seattle ended up leading on it, why it matters (and exists everywhere else) - and why fixing building codes is so important for housing. @stephenjacobsmith.com @seanjurs.bsky.social nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
nextcity.org
The Seattle Example for Unlocking More Housing, One Stairway at a Time
By rethinking the building code and allowing single-stair apartment buildings, the city made small-lot, mid-rise apartments feasible — and sparked a wider reform movement.
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 11/02/2026
One estimate suggests that 18,000 homes a year are not being built because of the UK’s new requirement for a second stairway at 18 meters. Some are advocating to raise the limit to 50 meters, in line with global standards. archive.is/2026.02.09-1...
archive.is
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
"A close analysis of the US building code development process reveals a system rife ... in which the costs and benefits of regulations are improperly measured (if measured at all)" -UCLA Lewis Center: Cracking the Code (Jan 2026) escholarship.org/content/qt0x...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Wisconsin's 6-story single-stair bill dropped last month with 9 bill sponsors. Oddly, the bill creates a council consisting of industry gatekeepers to author the single-stair code including an IRC expert even though 6-story projects would be under the IBC docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/related...
docs.legis.wisconsin.gov
Wisconsin Legislature: AB784: Bill Text
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Bringing similar scrutiny to the building code, last year, Utah doubled the allowable number of units permitted under the residential code by allowing 4 unit residential projects. up.codes/viewer/utah/...
up.codes
Chapter 1 Scope and Administration: Utah Residential Code 2021 | UpCodes
UpCodes offers a consolidated resource of construction and building code grouped by jurisdiction
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
A California lawmaker has proposed allowing projects up to 10 units be constructed under the residential code. That's 5x more than the current IBC limit of 2 units. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTe...
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Excited to see The Architect's Newspaper featuring the winners of the National Single Stair Design Competition and their amazing work. www.archpaper.com/2026/01/nati...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Apartment floor plate comparison. Standard double-loaded corridor with single-aspect units on the left. Seattle single-stair project, with triple-aspect units on the right.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
This month, ULI's Urban Land magazine is featuring Seattle's BB House adaptive reuse project. Not mentioned in the article is the fact that the compact, 5-story addition is made possible with single stair egress and Seattle's unique building code. urbanland.uli.org/resilience-a...
urbanland.uli.org
Project Profile: Why an Ordinary Old Building in Seattle Was Worth Saving
It’s not as if the old two-story building at the corner of 12th and Remington Court, in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, was ever particularly remarkable. Even in its original incarnation, it was a ...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 28/09/2023
Thanks to Seattle's unique stair code, point access blocks like the Alki Condominiums create density on small beachfront lots Located on Alki Beach, the project adds 10 units to the waterfront At 6-stories tall, the Alki Condominiums are illegal to build in most US cities
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Tucked on a 9' wide lot, PituRooms is a 6-story, 7-unit hotel dubbed the 'skinniest hotel ever' Built on an overlooked lot in Indonesia, the project creates an efficient use of space and depends on a compact circulation core.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Happening tomorrow: webinar on single-stair housing led by life safety experts SGH. I am looking forward to the conversation that will explore how we need to be open to new ideas to accommodate new strategies and new ways of providing housing. Registration link: www.sgh.com/news-event/0...
sgh.com
Allowing Six-Story Single-Egress Stair Buildings to Address Affordable Housing Needs
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Last month, I sat down with Single Stair North Carolina to discuss how Denver's single stair design competition united architects, policymakers, & community leaders. The interview explored lessons learned for communities seeking solutions to the housing crisis. singlestairnc.substack.com
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Built in 1978 as the original "Seattle Special," all 15 units at the 6-story, single-stair Pike & Virginia Building overlook Puget Sound. The first new construction in the Pike Place Market historic district in 50 years, it was designed with a small footprint to meet strict urban design guidelines.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & County is proving what’s possible with Olympic Ridge. With a single-stair design, they’ve managed to fit 17 dual-aspect affordable condos on a incredibly narrow 35-foot wide lot in Capitol Hill. This is a masterclass in urban infill and density done right.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Last week, a reporter asked what’s next for the single-stair movement. My hope? That it does for building codes what @wesmars.bsky.social and "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" did for transit: establish that US building codes are fundamentally outdated and ready for a complete overhaul.
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Uytae Lee @uytaelee.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
NEW VIDEO: North America’s Elevator’s Problem Elevators are absolutely essential to modern cities..... and it turns out North America kind of sucks at them. We partnered with @sightline.org to look into the many issues plaguing our elevator industry, and what it might take to fix it.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Built in 1978 as the original "Seattle Special," all 15 units at the 6-story, single-stair Pike & Virginia Building overlook Puget Sound. The first new construction in the Pike Place Market historic district in 50 years, it was designed with a small footprint to meet strict urban design guidelines.
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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
single stair bill now filed in *kentucky* apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/...
The Kentucky Building Code shall permit less than six (6) stories of Residential Group5
R-2 occupancy, as defined in the building code, to be served by a single exit if:6
(1) The building does not:7
(a) Have more than six (6) stories above grade plane; and8
(b) Contain more than four (4) dwelling units on any floor;9
(2) An exterior or interior stairway is provided;10
(3) (a) A corridor separates each dwelling unit entry or exit door from the door to11
an interior exit stairway, including any related exit passageway on each12
floor; and13
(b) The dwelling unit doors do not open directly into an interior exit stairway,14
but may open directly into an exterior stairway;15
(4) There is no more than twenty (20) feet of travel to the exit stairway from the entry16
or exit door of any dwelling unit;17
(5) Travel distance measured in accordance with the building code does not exceed18
one hundred twenty-five (125) feet;
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Rocksresort - Laax, Switzerland by Domenig Architekten 4-story single-stair buildings - designed to look like "randomly fallen boulders"- clustered around a central square. The 11 monolithic cube-shaped buildings include 4-6 units per floor and 160 luxury apartments and a 70-unit boutique hotel.
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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
whoa @jamestalarico.bsky.social mentions passing #SingleStair bill in texas, on @chrislhayes.bsky.social #inners #housing #affordability let's gooooo! www.larchlab.com/point-access...
larchlab.com
Larch Lab Policy Brief: Point Access Blocks
Over the last few months, we've been working with several policymakers, advocacy groups, and jurisdictions on Point Access Block legislation. To facilitate those conversations and educate policymakers...
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East Bay for Everyone @eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
East Bay for Everyone, as co-host with Livable Communities Initiative, is proud to announce the winners of the National Single Stair Design Competition: www.singlestair.com
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Congrats to the ONTO Álvaro Obregón project in Mexico City for winning The Architect's Newspaper's Residential (small, multi-unit) Project of the Year. CRB Arquitectos recently completed the 8-story mass timber building that contains 59 units, a shared roof deck, and ground floor restaurant.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
This week, the 'Kentucky Housing Task Force' issued a Final Report recommending key building code reforms to bring down construction costs Included is a suggestion to change state building code to allow single-stair housing(although it is already allowed up to 3-stories) www.klc.org/News/13091/k...
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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Another new member of the Parking + Single Stair Reform club just dropped. Congrats to Denver! Who's next?
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
It's official, last night Denver City Council adopted a local single-stair ordinance! Beginning December 31, 2025, 5-story single-stair housing will be permitted in Denver! www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/11/24/d...
coloradopolitics.com
Denver City Council approves single-stair building ordinance
Denver City Council approves ordinance for 5-story single-stair buildings, promoting affordable housing and flexible building options.
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
With a unanimous city council vote, Culver City becomes California's first city to allow taller single-stair buildings www.usnews.com/news/best-st...
usnews.com
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 20/11/2025
Somebody in the audience pointed out something that I didn’t know, which is that Queensbridge Houses, the largest NYCHA project in the city (and thereby largest public housing complex in North America), is single-stair. platform-affordable-dwelling.bk.tudelft.nl/database/201...
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Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The people writing urban building codes aren't actually familiar with urbanism ↓↓↓
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Joe Cohen @cohenhouse.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Culver City's single stair ordinance has been approved by the state, so you can now build single-stair apartment buildings up to six stories
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