Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm
From my point-of-view as a former firefighter, I would say this:<p>A building meant to house 4500 students, with only two entrances? There's a word for that: deathtrap.<p>Building this is setting UCSB up to be the site of the next Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire[1], Station Nightclub fire[2], or Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant fire[3].<p>At a first glance, based only on the information provided in the article, I'd say that there is basically NOTHING good about this idea. But I'll allow that there are other details that could change the dynamic. Still, the weight of history suggests the importance of taking a somewhat skeptical position towards any measure of hand-waving when it comes to fire safety. At the moment, color me skeptical.<p>Edit: Let me add this... the linked article doesn't go into any real details about the fire safety aspects of this, so there's a lot of info we don't have without digging into other sources. One of those details would be the presence of a sprinkler system. IF local building codes require sprinklers in dormitories and this building is properly sprinklered, that would assuage some of my concerns, as a working sprinkler system is basically the single most important thing you can have to save lives in the event of a fire.[4]<p>[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fi...</a><p>[2]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire</a><p>[3]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plant_fire" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plan...</a><p>[4]: <a href="https://nfsa.org/2020/12/15/sprinkler-saves-proof-that-fire-sprinklers-save-people-and-property/" rel="nofollow">https://nfsa.org/2020/12/15/sprinkler-saves-proof-that-fire-...</a>