This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

When designing a commercial structure, the architect must make the hallways wide enough for a wheelchair.

The materials must be compatible with its surrounding climate. The beams must

be able to support the building and withstand the wind. The building should be dynamic,

interesting, comfortable, and ready to be completely abandoned if it burns.

There are a number of considerations for how a building should respond to emergency.

Horns versus strobes versus speakers.

The pulsating frequency of the light, the intensity of the light, smoke dampening, it goes on and on.

There's the sprinklers, the panic bars, you know the spring-loaded horizontal bar that you push to unlock emergency

exit, the smoke detectors, what kinds you use, and the distances between them.

You know, a lot of people hardly even look up and see these things and they just need to be there

when an emergency happens.

Now Adam Weinig and Daniel Scoville are architects.

We work with them at Arksan in beautiful downtown Oakland, California.

Most of the time, when they're working on fire safety,

they'll consult experts about where to place what kinds of architectural emergency devices.

But there's one safety device that they must design right into the building from the get-go. It's impossible to ignore.

As far as stair locations, that's pretty important right from the start because it changes the whole dynamic of your space.

Typically, buildings require two fire stairs, but it all depends on the size and purpose of the structure.

In architecture and building codes, you always need a certain number of exits or means of

egress, so ways out of a building.

And this fire escape precariously bolted

...