I once worked in an office where all the windows face a plain interior courtyard. It was terrible as nothing ever moved and you could only see the ground, more windows, and the sky.

Oh, yah, that's cool. You probably have a lot of systems surrounding the building (and ingress/egress) designed for that total volume.

https://archive.today/qfZ91

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/bedrooms-withou...

Bedrooms have egress requirements

Apartments have window requirements (eg natural light)

Windows can be unopenable etc.,

It's literally because of hi rises and the issues with it being pointless to jump from 10+ stories (you'll also suffer less, as the smoke will make you pass out long before you're actually being burned).

There's been a whole discussion of the code though as modern mid/high rises have - concrete, "fireproof" (in terms of adjacent unit to unit) construction - sprinkler systems - internal hallway leading to 2 stairways

All of which are lacking in wood frame homes which make up a higher amount of home fire deaths. So there has been an argument that you could build housing much cheaper if you could rely on the concrete & sprinklers, and could lighten the rules around multiple stairs / windows / etc.

An interesting debate, with of course, tradeoffs.

I mean, numbers are made up, but the point holds.

Obviously once you’re talking about true high rises you’re going to run out of possibilities and I know the maths is still very rough. But it’s an interesting thought exercise to think about just how many amenities you could pack into a building.

Dance floor #3? Make it happen!

Is this a thing, in planned conversions? If the pricing varied by day and time, or was dynamic, it could work very well. With secure lockers adjacent. (Would that require mixed-use zoning?)

A teleconference room (/remote classroom) by day could be time-multiplexed into a cinema room off-peak (with some compromise in seating plans), leasing company just needs to handle cleaning deposits and video surveillance at start and end to check users keep it clean.

I get that you get (almost) twice as many apartments (presuming you don't build up higher), but you also get a massive and complicated one time cost. It surprises me that it could ever be worth it.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chicago,+IL/@41.7332309,-8...

https://www.dotnews.com/columns/2014/glorious-three-decker