Archinect - News

FEMA is getting tough on property managers with the hopes of preventing another Bronx fire tragedy

2023-01-12T17:05:00-05:00

On the first anniversary of the Twin Parks fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will announce a new national plan to combat “America’s fire problem” using investigatory muscle granted by federal legislation that President Biden signed last month. The legislation will give the United States Fire Administration the power to identify the causes of fires like the one at the Twin Parks North West housing complex.

A year removed from the tragic blaze that took the lives of 17 people in the Bronx apartment complex once lauded by Paul Goldberger for its trend-bucking design, lawmakers in Washington have finally heeded the desperate pleas of public housing advocates who appealed for stricter safety measures in response to the Twin Parks fire and another incident in Philadelphia just days prior.

Biden appointee Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, the head of the U.S. Fire Administration, said the lack of adequate fire data will also be addressed for the first time. The results will hopefully benefit the estimated 1.3 million Americans who live in public housing. Last year alone, there were more than 1.2 million reported structure fires (of all types), resulting in the deaths of some 2,500 people nationwide.

Related Feature on Archinect: America’s Public Housing is Burning, Fueled by Cold Indifference

“It’s always in our neighborhood,” one former Twin Parks resident told the Times, referring to the deadly di...

Finger-pointing closes Phase II of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry as possible criminal charges loom

2022-11-09T15:09:00-05:00

The close of the 300-day-long inquiry into the devastating 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London saw attorneys for the victims pinning the “primary responsibility” on the building's designer, Studio E Architects, adding that a “rogue's gallery” comprised of Arconic Architectural Products and the engineering concern Exova were also to blame, along with the “rolled-back state” and a coterie of Grenfell subcontractors.

“The full extent of the disaster was caused by a complex combination of corporate greed with complete disregard for safety, professional incompetence, oversight and organisational failings, and facilitated by an insufficiently robust regime,” Barrister Stephanie Barwise said during her final statement.

A representative for Kingspan, makers of the faulty K15 insulation used in 5% of the facade, added their view that “responsibility also rests with those responsible for the design, construction, and approval of the refurbishment.”

Previously on Archinect: New findings state ...

NYC Mayor Eric Adams signs executive order strengthening fire safety enforcement in response to deadly January Bronx fire

2022-03-21T17:09:00-04:00

Mayor Eric Adams said the city will crack down on buildings with a high number of fire safety violations, two months after a blaze killed 17 tenants of a Bronx high-rise with a history of complaints. As part of a new executive order signed on Sunday, the city will increase information sharing between the FDNY and the city’s housing inspectors “to identify safety violations earlier and increase fire safety compliance.”

As part of what’s called Executive Order 12, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will launch a broad campaign to educate New Yorlers on fire safety. The order will also require the FDNY to conduct more frequent inspections of buildings found in violation of the city’s fire code. The HPD will work to ensure that fire safety notices are posted on the front doors of apartment buildings and will alert the FDNY and building owners if not.

Previously on Archinect: New York's deadliest fire in years was the product of a space heater and mechanical issues

The severity of the January 9th fire was due to an apartment door not closing automatically, which allowed smoke to rapidly spread through the building. The city will work with the City Council to enact additional fire safety legislation, which includes legislation that increases fines for landlords who falsely report curing a self-closing door violation. There is currentl...

New York's deadliest fire in years was the product of a space heater and mechanical issues

2022-01-10T15:29:00-05:00

The fire was started by a malfunctioning space heater in the bedroom of a third-floor apartment on Sunday. Fire officials say the door of the apartment did not close as residents fled and that allowed smoke to spread throughout the building.

The deaths and injuries in Sunday’s tragically avoidable accident were exclusively the product of smoke inhalation as the fire itself was contained to the apartment and outside hallway.

The blaze came just days after another horrible incident in Philadelphia that claimed the lives of twelve people including eight children.

The mayor’s office officially revised the number of dead in the Bronx case to 17 early Monday. The department of buildings said it has no plans for the remaining structure following a preliminary inspection and that survivors will be offered relocation assistance from the Red Cross at this time.

In response, the FDNY said that it was investigating a “maintenance issue” stemming from a faulty door that allowed the smoke to spread throughout the building. The company that owns the building sent The New York Times an email statement in which it claimed all of the doors in the 19-story structure were self-closing as required by law as late as July.

According to Lt. ...

61 people “died in buildings the city knew were firetraps” since 2014, says Chicago investigation

2021-04-26T10:40:00-04:00

An investigation by the Better Government Association (BGA) and the Chicago Tribune has found that, since 2014, at least 61 people have died in Chicago buildings where city officials were aware of fire safety problems. Buildings where the deaths occurred, 23 of which were children under the age of 17, included apartments the city knew lacked smoke detectors, abandoned buildings the city was supposed to demolish, and homes where tenants had complained to the city about heating problems.

Of the 42 deadly fires, nine contained unaddressed fire safety issues previously reported to city officials, which were later noted as potential causes of the fires. These include fires started by stoves or space heaters in buildings that the city knew had no central heating, or faulty wiring and electrical issues unaddressed by the city for years. In 24 fires, the city was warned about fire mitigation measures that were not properly provided, such as missing smoke detectors, that would have saved liv...

High rise fire in LA could prompt city to close a fire sprinkler loophole

2020-01-30T13:27:00-05:00

Officials in Los Angeles are reconsidering closing a legal loophole that exempts tall buildings built between 1943 and 1974 from fire sprinkler requirements after an unsprinkled high rise apartment tower on the city's Westside caught fire yesterday for the second time in recent years, injuring a a 13 of people, including a three month old baby and one man who is listed as being in serious condition.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the fire took place in a 25-story tower located in the Barrington Plaza complex, which is made up of three similar towers of differing heights surrounding a landscaped superblock site. The fire engulfed the sixth and seventh floors of the tallest tower and caused smoke damage to several floors in the development. According to The Los Angeles Times tenants in the building report a variety of maintenance issues in the complex, including a constantly broken elevator. A fire took place in the same building back in 2013 that apparently led to few safety or ...

Grenfell Report Blames Firefighters

2019-11-01T19:48:00-04:00

The London fire brigade’s readiness for the Grenfell Tower fire was “gravely inadequate” and fewer people would have died if it had been better prepared, a long-awaited public inquiry report into the disaster that killed 72 people has concluded ... [despite] “compelling evidence that the external walls of the building failed to comply with requirements” of building regulations governing fire safety.

The Fire Brigades Union published a damning report in September that accuses former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's deregulation — followed, and reportedly amplified, by Tony Blair — of having gutted building and fire safety regulations. At the same time, firefighters are blamed for a "lack of preparation" that cost 72 lives.

Meanwhile, families of the victims are suing the manufacturers of the buildings cladding and insulation.

New York City initiates basement apartment conversion pilot program

2019-08-20T08:00:00-04:00

The Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program provides eligible low- to middle-income homeowners living in East New York and Cypress Hills, Brooklyn with low or no-interest, or possible forgivable, loans to convert their basement or cellar into a safe, legal, and rentable apartment, based on altered building code legislation passed in February 2019.

Why are we seeing the same trends in apartment design over and over again?

2019-01-05T15:02:00-05:00

Due to an Amazon-fueled apartment construction boom over the last decade, Seattle has been an epicenter of [a] new school of structural simulacra. But Seattle is not alone. Nearly every city, from Charlotte to Minneapolis, has seen a proliferation of homogenous apartments as construction has increased again in the wake of the financial recession.

Developer Modern, Plonkitecture, Contemporary Contempt, Blandmarks...

These are just a few of the names offered for the ubiquitous apartment building design that has swept the nation in the last few decades. They differ marginally across the United States, for they all equally strive for the aesthetically unoffensive and the financially advantageous.

“Part of what people are responding to isn’t the building themselves, it’s that there are so many of them going up so quickly, all in the same places in the city,” argued Richard Mohler, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Washington.

According to this Curbed article, the culprits are cost-cutting, code-following and labor-reducing. As unfortunate as it is from a design standpoint, standardization is indeed a solution that developers have little question about. Geoff Palmer's apartment buildings have famously occupied the corners and edges of Downtown Los Angeles with mass-produced mediterranean affectations in ...

RIBA submits evidence and recommendations to the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety

2017-10-19T13:57:00-04:00

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the British government put out a call for evidence for the independent review of building regulations and fire safety. Led by Dame Judith Hackitt, the review will make recommendations to ensure there is a sufficiently robust regulatory system for the future, examining building and fire safety regulations and related compliance and enforcement with a focus on multi-occupancy high rise residential buildings.

Today, the RIBA has submitted its response and recommendations to the call. “The RIBA welcomes Dame Judith Hackett’s review but we believe it must be more comprehensive, addressing the details of Building Regulations guidance as well as the broader regulatory system. The Review should cover all building types and construction methods not just those relating to high-rise, multiple occupancy residential buildings. In addition to submitting evidence, the RIBA has also proposed a number of significant recommendations to the Review, to enhance the ...

Arson suspect arrested in connection with downtown LA "Da Vinci" fire

2015-05-29T12:55:00-04:00

A 56-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire that destroyed a downtown Los Angeles apartment complex last year, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the unfinished structure and a nearby city-owned building [...]. Abdulwali’s arrest followed an intense investigation that began even before firefighters fully extinguished the Dec. 8 blaze at the seven-story Da Vinci complex.

Previously:

Bad news for good taste - burnt Da Vinci apartments expected to be rebuilt in 10 months

2015-04-20T17:17:00-04:00

A rise from the ashes had always been in [developer Geoff] Palmer's mind for this charred housing project; he'd said in a statement back in December that the devastation at the building on the south side of Temple Street was just a 'temporary loss.' Now that all the wreckage from the fire has been cleared off the site, construction can begin.

The kind of "renaissance" (sorry) that many locals are probably not very thrilled about...

Previously:

L.A. fire officials reveal new details about potential suspect in Da Vinci arson case

2015-03-31T15:32:00-04:00

Officials have offered a $170,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the arsonist behind the blaze that consumed a seven-story building in the Da Vinci apartment complex and damaged the freeway and neighboring buildings. Investigators believe the suspect 'torched that building up from the freeway side and then escaped'...

Well, L.A. fire officials are revealing some details. The L.A. Times reports that L.A. Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Ruda informed Echo Park neighborhood council members last week that authorities have surveillance footage allegedly showing the suspect of the fire that engulfed a 7-story structure in the Da Vinci apartment complex last December. A few weeks later, federal investigators determined the fire was arson. City officials estimate the December blaze caused between $25 million-$30 million in damage.

Ruda described that the footage shows the suspect parking their vehicle on the 110 Freeway and then walking into the half-built structure with cans of fuel. While the suspect is said to still be at large, the LAFD and law enforcement are continuing further investigation into the case. However, further details of collected evidence are not currently being released "to protect the integrity of the investigation," according to Ruda.

Footage of the possible suspect has not been...

The troubles of evacuating one of the world's tallest residential buildings during a fire

2015-02-24T13:49:00-05:00

Residents affected by the fire that broke out in The Torch tower in Dubai Marina at the weekend have been moved to a nearby hotel while the extent of the damage is assessed. [...] More than 1,000 people fled after a fire broke out at around 2am on Saturday in one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. [...] The exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

Downtown LA fire determined to be arson... Architecture hate crime?

2014-12-19T13:18:00-05:00

The ATF national response team, at the end of its investigation, reaches one of three conclusions – incendiary, accidental, or undetermined. Given Thursday’s conclusion that the fire was determined to be "incendiary," or deliberately set, local authorities will probably launch an arson investigation to identify those responsible for the blaze.

Previously: Huge downtown Los Angeles fire burns towering apartment project

Huge downtown Los Angeles fire burns towering apartment project

2014-12-08T12:02:00-05:00

“When they came out of the quarters they could see it was fully engulfed,” fire department spokeswoman Katherine Main told the paper. “It was a building under construction in the framing phase. Almost 1 million square feet and a city block.”

Freeway signs melt and windows in adjacent buildings burst in the intense heat. Two buildings near the burning construction site are damaged and freeways are closed for hours.

The fire which burned down an unpopular (among the architects) apartment complex a 7 storey wood construction in its final stages of completion.

Social media users in the city have been quick to post pictures of the pillar of fire reaching up into the night sky, with some taking a more ominous interpretation of the blaze.