Technology, of course, constantly changes architecture. When steel and elevators were developed almost 150 years ago, skyscrapers appeared; when wood could be industrially cut to precise sizes, light frame wood construction became cheaper and easier to build than timber framed buildings—and, along with the GI Bill, helped flood the American landscape with single family homes. 

Similarly, zoning has always impacted the shape of buildings (think of New York’s “wedding cake” skyscrapers, the Mansard roofed buildings of Paris, mid-century suburban homes on one acre lots, and now the needle skyscrapers popping up in midtown Manhattan). 

Right now, all across America, we have yet another example of code-shaped architecture. The 2012 International Building Code (IBC) described a new building type that made mid-rise structures substantially cheaper and quicker to construct, while still maintaining the same structural and life safety standards.


“Stick Frame Over Podium” is the term most often used to describe these buildings. Also called “5 over 2” construction, this hybrid construction uses a cast concrete or fireproofed steel base of 1 or 2 stories that then has the cheapest, quickest, building system available built over it: light and stick frame, usually limited to 5 additional stories. Engineered wood is often used and, when combined with fire suppression sprinklering and wall/floor separations, huge savings in construction and time are realized. As a result, six or seven stories can explode out of the ground in months.