Why Four-Storey Buildings Create Nicer Communities
Since the tragedies of Grenfell Tower and 9/11, there have been many architects and town planners, who have been concerned over building tall buildings and skyscrapers, for fire safety reasons (you obviously have much better chance of survival, if you live in a low-storey building).
Low-storey buildings also create a better sense of inclusion and community. If you live on floors 1 to 4, you are still going to be able to see people on the street, watch birds in the trees and not be isolated on a high-rise block.
Skyscrapers are also usually made from glass, which (with lights on) increase the chance of birds flying into windows. Read more on how to prevent bird strike.
The average 4-storey residential building is around 12 to 18 metres (40 to 60 feet in old money). One city that has hardly any tall buildings (apart from the Eiffel Tower) is Paris, which is built on a walkable grid system.
Paris has no boarded up shops, or streets full of empty buildings or vape shops. Residents and shopkeepers live near each other, and everyone still knows each other by name, in each arrondissement (like London boroughs).
It’s important however to know that the rules are not exact. A 5-storey building with low ceilings, is still likely as good as a four-storey building with high ceilings, it depends on the architecture.
For healthy people, it also is possible for people to take the stairs in most cases in low-storey buildings, whereas lifts are almost compulsory if you live on the 17th floor!
Tall tower blocks isolate people. In recent years, there have been awful stories of people who have literally been dead for years in high-rise buildings. Nobody even noticed, until automatic payments stop, and bailiffs turn up to find the bodies.
The Lessons Learned from Grenfell Tower
The terrible fire at Grenfell Tower (24 storeys high) in Kensington left many lessons (72 people and many animals died). Two residents (who died in the fire) had even warned of the dangerous design of the building (the combustible cladding had not been removed)
The fire began with an accidental fault in a fridge. London Fire Brigade’s Total Recalls campaign is asking for a ban on plastic-backed white goods (like chip fat fryers, these are a main fire risk).
Budapest (buildings no more than 300 feet high)
In the Hungarian city of Budapest, buildings are not allowed to be more than just over 300 feet (around the height of big Ben). Councils had to block proposals for tall towers near the Danube, due to public protests.
Again, this means a beautiful city, that (rebuilt after the Second World War) is free from ugly tower blocks, and again contains historic streets and façades, with cornice lines.
The city of Prague is also known as one of the world’s most beautiful, again mostly consisting of beautiful low-rise buildings. Apart from one (a new monstrosity that is called one of the world’s ugliest – critics say it looks like an electric toothbrush!)
