# Stupidest building design you've experienced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287 "2023-06-10T13:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/81 "2023-08-10T13:00:39Z")
Never heard that one, though we also had the library myth (Northwestern.) Speaking of, the main library building was an odd brutalist structure with a radial design so that the main stacks extended like spokes in a wheel as opposed to being in rectangular rows like most every other library. It was … interesting. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/82 "2023-08-10T13:05:50Z")
The G-level connects all the separate buildings of my school’s campus. All of the doors down there are numbered in seemingly completely random order, which kind of defeats the purpose of numbering doors. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/83 "2023-08-10T13:18:16Z")
The International Building Code, which is the most common basis for local and state codes in the USA, requires the means of egress to end at a “public way.” What’s that, you say? _A street, alley or other parcel of land open to the outside air leading to a street, that has been deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use and which has a clear width and height of not less than 10 feet (3048 mm)._ This becomes a very big deal for many building designers. You can’t, for example, just dump the occupants of a cafeteria area into the terrace outside. There have to be provisions for them to get to the street in the event of an emergency. I also used to see buildings with exit paths that ended at the fenced pool area. Again, that’s not permitted. As far as locked doors in a means of egress…generally allowed only in very specific circumstances and very, very rarely permitted except in correctional and institutional use groups. Delayed egress doors are a bit more common. The Fire Marshal would definitely be interested. Bonus info: The entrance door into a store (Mercantile Use Group) can’t be locked against exit while the store is open. I see this violated pretty frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/84 "2023-08-10T13:33:16Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > That’s at least better than the previous owners of a house I purchased decades ago. They couldn’t get the couch out of a room in the basement…so they just left it. When we sold my mom’s house a few years back, the one condition the buyers added was that they wanted to keep the pool table my dad had in the basement. I was so glad for that, because I had no idea how I was going to get it out of the basement, or where it would go after that. Essentially no one around here wants second-hand pool tables, so we really won the lottery there! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/85 "2023-08-10T16:01:55Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I once was in an apartment where apparently you could only leave the room if you had a key. Basically you would unlock the front door, go inside, put the key into the door on the interior side now to lock it and then close the door. You could not lock the door unless you locked it from the inside with the key, nor could you unlock it from the inside unless you had the key. You could remove the key from inside once the door was locked but you better know where it was when you wanted to unlock the door to leave. It was the weirdest system ever. Those types of locks (double-sided or double cylinder or whatever they’re called) aren’t all that unusual. They’re useful for extra security if there’s a window in the door or nearby that a burglar could break and then unlock the door from the inside. Some have a clever design where the inside part of the lock looks just like an ordinary thumb latch, but it can be pulled out and the inside part is actually a key. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/86 "2023-08-10T16:06:30Z")
I know it’s a code violation to use those in residential settings in Massachusetts (as in I was told that by a building inspector), I’d hazard a guess it’s the same for the rest of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/87 "2023-08-10T16:17:45Z")
There’s an indoor mall near where I used to live with a big supermarket on one end. From a distance it looks just like an ordinary supermarket storefront – big windows and a big sign with the name of the store at the top. It’s only when you get closer that you notice a strange thing – it has no doors! There’s no obvious way in, which is rather unusual for a store! In fact it has two entrances, and both are awkward. One is from the interior mall concourse, which is reasonable for any store in the mall, of course, but if you’re just going grocery shopping, it’s quite a long walk from the nearest mall entrance. The only other way to get in is through the underground parking garage. You then walk into a small area in the store’s basement where shopping carts are kept, and you and the cart take a sort of escalator-like thing up to the main level. Besides being a nuisance and an uninviting way to enter a store, it’s strictly for people with cars. The unfortunate thing about all this is that it’s in the middle of a residential area where lots of people are within walking distance, but this is not a store built for pedestrians. I bet that once in their cars, they do their grocery shopping at more reasonably designed stores. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/88 "2023-08-10T16:21:42Z")
My mom’s house has locks that can only be unlocked, from either side, using a key, but they’re not the only locks, and when anyone’s at home, she typically uses only the other locks (that have a little lever inside to unlock them). She had them installed after a burglar broke in through a basement window, because it would at least limit the thief to what would fit out through the basement window. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/89 "2023-08-10T16:35:59Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I know it’s a code violation to use those in residential settings in Massachusetts (as in I was told that by a building inspector), I’d hazard a guess it’s the same for the rest of the USA. Makes sense. According to **[this](https://www.ehow.com/facts_7496748_dual-cylinder-deadbolt-against-law.html)**, laws vary by state and whatever other jurisdictions have their own building codes. They’re widely sold on Amazon (the US site). > In the U.S., there is no single comprehensive law against dual-cylinder deadbolts. Individual cities and states have local property and fire codes that may prohibit the use of dual-cylinder deadbolts. The code may prohibit the use of dual-cylinder deadbolts in some buildings and allow them in others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287.md?page=4)