Converting a guesthouse into a care home with one open stair

The fact that the building is existing does not exempt the new use. A care home for elderly residents, including non-ambulant residents, is a high-risk occupancy: occupants may not self-evacuate, and staff assistance is required. A single stair can sometimes be accepted in a small existing building only with compensating measures: a protected stair enclosure, a smoke lobby, no bedroom opening directly onto the stair, and a discharge that does not pass through a fire-risk room. Here the stair is open to the lobby, bedrooms open directly onto the stair landing, and the final exit is through the kitchen. The kitchen discharge is the critical defect: a fire starting in the kitchen can block the only escape route. Adding extinguishers does not cure it.

Without a second independent escape, the scheme should not be approved as proposed. If a second stair is impossible, the designer must propose an alternative protected route and a compensatory package, likely including sprinklers, a protected lobby and a revised discharge. The fire service should be consulted early.

I would treat the stair as a protected escape route: enclose it in 30-minute fire-resistant construction, provide a smoke lobby at each level where bedrooms would otherwise open onto it, and fit self-closing fire doors. The kitchen should be separated from the escape route and the final exit should discharge directly outside or through a protected corridor, not through the kitchen. Floors should be compartmented to allow progressive horizontal evacuation: each floor should have a refuge area and staff should be able to move residents away from a fire before descending. The basement boiler room should be separated by one-hour construction with an independent access and no opening onto the stair.

Detection should be automatic and addressable, with smoke detection in bedrooms, corridors and communal spaces, a main alarm and emergency lighting. Extinguishers alone are not sufficient. The evacuation plan should identify who assists the four non-ambulant residents, provide evacuation chairs or sledges, and include regular drills. A notice de securite should describe these measures and the staff ratios.

The gas boiler room in the basement must be a fire-separated compartment, normally one-hour fire-resistant, with a self-closing fire door, no storage of combustibles, and independent ventilation. It should not open directly onto the protected stair or lobby. If the boiler room is under the stair, that is a serious defect and the stair should be relocated or the boiler room independently protected. Gas detection and an emergency shut-off should be considered, and the installation should be maintained by a competent person.

If the existing stair is timber, it should not be left exposed as the only escape. Options are to encase it in fire-resistant board, upgrade it with intumescent treatment only where accepted by the fire authority, or replace it with a non-combustible stair. The 1.10 m width is workable but handrails, contrast markings and a protected lobby are still needed. The fire service may accept a package of sprinklers plus protected stair in place of a second stair, but that is a negotiated compensatory solution, not a default.