On May 22, 2017, updating an earlier blog post (Egress, toilets, and carcinogens: Cornell’s transition plans during Fine Arts Library construction), I wrote that “transferring outside air from a corridor into the digital fabrication lab would not be compliant with the 2015 Mechanical Code. However, since the corridor seems to be now labeled as a room (‘collaborative area’), it’s probably legal, but barely. The opportunistic and ad hoc manner in which such design decisions are, and have been made, does not inspire confidence.” It is now apparent that the actual use of this new “room”/corridor has confirmed my fears: the ability of this “collaborative area” to function properly as part of an egress path has been seriously undermined by the types of activities assigned to the space.

Combustible trash interferes with egress on the 2nd floor of Sibley Hall (photo by J. Ochshorn, Dec. 3, 2017)