One-plus-five


One-plus-five, also known as five-over-one, or a podium building, is a type of multi-family residential building commonly found in urban areas of North America. The mid-rise buildings are normally constructed with four or five wood frame stories above a concrete podium. The one-plus-five style of buildings exploded in popularity in the 2010s, following a 2009 revision to the International Building Code which allowed up to five stories of wood-framed construction.

Description

The first recorded example of one-plus-five construction is an affordable housing apartment building in Los Angeles built in 1996. The wood-framed one-plus-five style is popular due to their high density and relatively lower construction costs compared to steel and concrete. One-plus-five buildings often feature secure-access interior hallways with residential units on both sides, which favors a U, E, C, or right-angle building shape. The exteriors of one-plus-fives often contain flat windows, rainscreen cladding, and Hardie board cement fiber panels.
These buildings are also sometimes called a Wrap or Texas Doughnut, which describes a multifamily building that's wrapped around a parking garage in the center. This style is common in areas with higher minimum parking requirements.

Criticism

One-plus-five buildings are often criticized for their high fire risk as well as their blandness. Some cities and jurisdictions have considered additional regulations for multi-story wood-framed structures. The city of Waltham, Massachusetts called for legislation to prevent the construction of multi-story wood-framed buildings, which was introduced following a fire at an under-construction wood-framed condominium in the city The borough of Edgewater, New Jersey introduced a resolution calling on the state of New Jersey to enact stricter fire safety regulations for wood-framed buildings, following a large fire that occurred in the wood-framed Avalon at Edgewater apartments in 2015.