How a Design Competition Sparked Policy Change for Single Stair in Denver
An interview with architect and housing advocate Sean Jursnick
What’s Colorado Doing Right?
Across the United States, cities are grappling with the same challenges: rising housing costs, limited supply, and growing demand for smaller, more attainable homes in walkable neighborhoods. Yet many local building codes silently restrict the kinds of housing that could help, especially the “missing middle” apartments that serve singles, couples, young families, and downsizing seniors. One of the most consequential barriers is the requirement for two exit stairs in low-rise multifamily buildings, a rule that makes small apartment buildings physically larger, more expensive, and often financially infeasible.
Colorado and the city of Denver, however, have emerged as national leaders by legalizing single-stair multifamily buildings. In late 2025, we spoke with architect Sean Jursnick, who played a central role in the advocacy effort that led to this breakthrough. His experience offers important guidance for any city or state hoping to expand housing choices through building-code reform.
How a Design Competition Sparked Policy Change
One of Denver’s most effective tools wasn’t a traditional policy campaign at all, it was a design competition. The contest’s goal was to explore how architecture can solve today’s housing and urban planning challenges, and to produce solutions that could balance density with livability and environmental responsibility. But as Jursnick emphasizes, the competition was never intended to be an isolated exploration of architectural ideas. Rather, it was a way to bring attention to the design concept of housing that can be modular, affordable, beautiful, and well-connected to its neighborhood. It became an advocacy mechanism that pulled policymakers directly into the conversation, sparked by innovation from firms both large and small, located around the world.
From the beginning, the organizers invited city council members to serve as competition jurors. This wasn’t a symbolic gesture: council members engaged deeply with the submissions, asked questions, debated feasibility, and emerged as enthusiastic champions for reform. Seeing international solutions helped elected officials understand that single-stair buildings weren’t speculative or fringe, they were widely tested, successful, and beloved in other cities.
The winning project of the Denver Single-Stair Housing Challenge, designed by Rita Alsemaani and Anthony Barakat from Atelié Albert Barakat in Lebanon. (Source: Buildner)
Governor Jared Polis with advocates, designers, and city leaders at the Denver Single-Stair Housing Challenge awards event. (Source: SAR+)
The global nature of the submissions created powerful momentum. Policymakers realized that interest in single-stair housing wasn’t limited to a small group of architects or activists. It reflected a broad professional consensus that U.S. building codes had inadvertently created barriers to housing types that are safe, popular, and commonplace abroad. It also improved local development practices; bringing in international expertise to design this forgotten form of housing was a fantastic opportunity for local designers to enhance their knowledge.
Furthermore, the involvement of high-level leaders amplified that momentum. When Colorado’s governor announced the competition awards, the initiative gained legitimacy that helped frame subsequent code discussions as both serious and necessary.
Bridging the Gap Between Policymakers and Regulators
Once city council members became invested, they used their influence to bring building and fire departments into the conversation. According to Jursnick, this step was essential. Without pressure from council champions, the departments would not have engaged: “They just wouldn’t have come to the table.”
At first, the fire department interpreted the proposal as an attempt to weaken safety standards by removing the second required exit. But the collaborative process that followed helped both sides articulate what they actually wanted: not fewer safety tools, but different ones tailored to smaller, non-corridor buildings. Using Seattle’s code as a baseline, the group developed a series of safety provisions that allowed single-stair configurations without sacrificing life-saving safety performance.
These measures included:
Clear ladder truck access to each floor
Restrictions on electrical outlets in stairways to prevent e-bike or scooter charging
Enhanced sprinkler density within stairwells
A maximum of four units per floor to maintain occupant load limits
A maximum travel distance of 20 feet from any apartment door to the stairs
Example of a single-stair apartment layout that includes the safety provisions noted above.
Over time, what began as a defensive regulatory posture evolved into a collaborative design exercise; one that preserved safety while unlocking new housing opportunities.
State and Local Advocacy Align
The Denver initiative built on the momentum of statewide action. Colorado passed legislation that allowed alternative multifamily configurations in non-combustible construction types. This set a regulatory floor that municipalities could work above rather than around. In turn, Denver advocates pushed for additional flexibility at the city level, eventually securing approval for Type 3A construction, which uses standard wood framing and aligned more closely with local development patterns.
Example of Type 3A construction (Source: US Framing).
Notably, public pushback was minimal during the revision process. Because the competition had framed the conversation early, and because council champions were publicly associated with it, much of the community discourse focused on expanding housing options rather than perceived reductions in safety.
Advocacy Strategies That Worked
Reflecting on the Denver experience, Jursnick emphasized several strategies that proved essential to the campaign’s success:
1. Find champions who already have strong city council relationships.
Personal credibility and trust matter. When a respected council ally vouches for an idea, other policymakers take it seriously.
2. Leverage professional organizations.
Groups like AIA’s Housing Committee, ULI, and the Downtown Denver Partnership helped broaden the coalition, demonstrating that the issue was supported across disciplines, from architects and planners, to business and civic groups.
3. Use architectural visualization to make policies tangible.
Architects are uniquely equipped to illustrate what single-stair buildings look like, how they function, and where they fit. Renderings, diagrams, and physical examples help address fear of the unknown.
4. Use design competition materials as advocacy tools.
The “Austin model,” where competition boards were physically brought into city hall, proved powerful: decision-makers could see, touch, and discuss real proposals rather than abstractions.
Implications for North Carolina
North Carolina’s building code is based on the International Building Code with state amendments, which means reform can occur either at the municipal level (similar to Austin) or at the state level (as in Colorado). According to Jursnick, the most important factor will be identifying political conditions where early champions are likely to emerge.
Durham stands out as a promising candidate: it has a track record of adopting innovative housing policies, including missing-middle zoning reforms. From there, reform could expand across the Triangle or even statewide.
Regardless of the path, Denver’s experience offers a clear roadmap: build a coalition early, cultivate council champions, engage fire officials constructively, and use demonstration projects to shift perceptions from risk to opportunity.
Conclusion
Denver’s legalization of single-stair multifamily housing shows what’s possible when architects, policymakers, and community organizations work together toward a shared vision of livable, sustainable, and attainable housing. This success was not the result of a single argument or technical memo, but a multi-layered strategy that combined design, storytelling, political partnership, and technical expertise.
For cities across the country, including those in North Carolina, the lessons are clear: change is possible, but it requires early engagement, creative advocacy, and a willingness to collaborate across professional and political boundaries. With the right champions and the right tools, single-stair housing can become a vital part of the American housing landscape once again.
About Sean Jursnick
Sean Jursnick (Courtesy of Shears Adkins Rockmore)
Sean Jursnick, AIA, is an architect and Associate Principal at Shears Adkins Rockmore (SAR+) in Denver, where he specializes in housing innovation, building code reform, and design advocacy. He has led multiple initiatives focused on expanding housing choices through thoughtful regulatory change, and played a key role in Denver’s groundbreaking effort to legalize single-stair multifamily buildings. Jursnick is recognized nationally for bridging design expertise with policy leadership.
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