Greensalad
2025-09-12 14:27:52
- #1
Hello,
we are converting an old barn into a residential house.
Attached to the barn is a lean-to shed which is used as a garage.
Since an interior staircase is planned, according to the architect a smoke vent window is necessary.
Now he has planned a roof window in the stairwell as an RWA.
Since I find that not only expensive but also the red boxes very unattractive, I am now looking for another solution.
I was told that there are also mechanical solutions with Bowden cables or electric chain drives. Where can I find those?
What about maintenance, do I have to have such an RWA serviced annually? That surely is not cheap...
Our living space is on the 1st floor (floor height 2.80m). All rooms have at least one window and thus also a place for a ladder, and a large balcony is planned.
On the ground floor, a granny flat with a separate entrance is planned.
In the planned stairwell there is already a window which leads outside above the garage.
For a better understanding, I have attached a sketch of the layout.
Could the interior stairwell also be discussed since it is strictly speaking not separated from the front wall at the bottom?
We are building in Baden-Württemberg, with building class 3.
I have also been quite annoyed about the building class, since with 414 sqm we are just over the limit of 400 sqm and here the garage is apparently also counted towards the gross floor area ratio. The whole thing is not entirely understandable to me. After all, all buildings and apartments have separate entrances and are separated fire-wise by walls.
One idea would be to seal off the empty upper floors fire- and smoke-tight.
Would we then not need a smoke vent?
As you can see, this whole topic raises many questions for me. Maybe you can shed some light on it.
Many thanks in advance
we are converting an old barn into a residential house.
Attached to the barn is a lean-to shed which is used as a garage.
Since an interior staircase is planned, according to the architect a smoke vent window is necessary.
Now he has planned a roof window in the stairwell as an RWA.
Since I find that not only expensive but also the red boxes very unattractive, I am now looking for another solution.
I was told that there are also mechanical solutions with Bowden cables or electric chain drives. Where can I find those?
What about maintenance, do I have to have such an RWA serviced annually? That surely is not cheap...
Our living space is on the 1st floor (floor height 2.80m). All rooms have at least one window and thus also a place for a ladder, and a large balcony is planned.
On the ground floor, a granny flat with a separate entrance is planned.
In the planned stairwell there is already a window which leads outside above the garage.
For a better understanding, I have attached a sketch of the layout.
Could the interior stairwell also be discussed since it is strictly speaking not separated from the front wall at the bottom?
We are building in Baden-Württemberg, with building class 3.
I have also been quite annoyed about the building class, since with 414 sqm we are just over the limit of 400 sqm and here the garage is apparently also counted towards the gross floor area ratio. The whole thing is not entirely understandable to me. After all, all buildings and apartments have separate entrances and are separated fire-wise by walls.
One idea would be to seal off the empty upper floors fire- and smoke-tight.
Would we then not need a smoke vent?
As you can see, this whole topic raises many questions for me. Maybe you can shed some light on it.
Many thanks in advance