What’s your question?
don't know of any forum per say but if you have specific questions there are several very knowledgeable people here that if asked properly will give you a hand-

Ok. There's a building. which contains a library on the ground level and the rest of the upper floors are dormitory spaces.
in between the library and the elevator bank is a 30ft hallway. with fire exits located on both ends.
How should I approach this problem if I wanted to find out if its possible to covert/use part of the hallway for an event, say, like a place where people can play music or read poetry.

another question is how would you classify a buildiing with mixed program. like in this case it has both a library , a cafeteria and a dormitory space for around 500 students... any help or leads will help a lot. Thanks

I believe the ICC has a forum.

Also if you are an ICC member you can call and ask them.

However, it seems to me that you are a mixed use occupancy. There are a lot of fire separations between the r classifications and the other spaces.

Specifically for the corridor I would see how wide it is and how the added occupancy infringes on the clear width required for egress. The additional area could be used as a space if it is not part of a horizontal exit enclosure.

if you are trying to turn your corridor into an assembly area, good luck with that.

client wanted to insert that program into the hallway/lobby not as a permanent space but as a temporary set up. would that make a difference?

Get a code consultant. Worth it.

we've used [url=http://www.codeconsultants.com/home/welcome.htmlthese[/url] guys in the past - very positive experience.

Right. These
guys.

about how much did it run ($/sqft)?

Not sure - I'll check.

in my opinion, i think there are a fair number of code 'challenges'. programatically, i would question using the 'hallway' as an event space (which would be an assembly occupancy in terms of use). usually a 'hallway' isn't wide enough to have this use and the plans reviewer could call you out on the use even though you call it something else (semantics- a sick game we architects play with plans reviewers). is this part of the elevator lobby? if it is, make it bigger to use as described. . . it's already rated and will have the proper exiting. this scenerio would be similar to an hotel lobby with sitting area, piano, etc. where the elevators open directly onto that space.

the code is pretty straight forward for the basic evaluation. start with your uses, both in plan and in elevation. then go to construction type and cross check that against seperated or mixed use. once you get past this level of evaluation, knowing the different nuances in the code will help to further define the building.

Dev Dog,
The hallway is almost 20 ft wide. it acts as a spine with the elevator lobby the cafe and a library perpendicular to it. on both ends of the spine are the fire escapes and the entrance. how can you find out if the hallway is wide enough? to accomodate assembly occupancy? a solution is to add more hallway width by eating up the library space. now, how can I find what width will be enough.

is it concentrated, unconcentrated, standing space?

why don't you post a simple plan image?
i think it'd make the discusssion much easier.

Vado,
The hallway should be able to accomodate small events like poetry reading, small musical concert,its basically converting the hallway into a gallery space where small group of people can gather and experience these events. the space need not be permanent.

So, I say it will be a unconcentrated standing space.

post a plan or buy a codebook.

if people are just standing around then why even bother. don't even bring it up to the code officials. ie leave any indication of what you plan to do off the plans.

Actually post a plan, Vado? On this site? Per my comments elsewhere, I'll not hold my breath waiting for something like that to occur.

code books....I don't do code books....just go have a sit down with your building offical....ask him, cause everyone of those devils looks at things differently....oh ya make your sitdown so it also accomodates the Fire Marshal because it is really the Fire Code which can bite you in the ass!