low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise etc.

[skysoar]

Is there a universal standard for classifying building structures as low, mid, or high-rise. And is it based on number of floors, building heights, or depending on a buildings location in its urban core or its suburban setting. Also would a building constituted as mid-rise in NYC be also regarded as mid-rise in Milwaukee for instance.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by skysoar

Is there a universal standard for classifying building structures as low, mid, or high-rise. And is it based on number of floors, building heights, or depending on a buildings location in its urban core or its suburban setting. Also would a building constituted as mid-rise in NYC be also regarded as mid-rise in Milwaukee for instance.

I think there is a technical definition for High Rise, dont know about the rest.

I think of a Low rise as anything under like 5/6 floors (or corresponding height) mid rise to be 5-~15 or maybe 20 and a high rise to be anything over 20.

But then again you will see people refer to anything over 8 or 9 floors as a high-rise

[Boisebro]

from wiki:

7 stories
The International Conference on Fire Safety in High-Rise Buildings defined a high-rise as "any structure where the height can have a serious impact on evacuation" In the U.S., the National Fire Protection Association defines a high-rise as being higher than 75 feet (23 meters), or about 7 stories.

however, a person's own definition of what constitutes low/mid/highrise is probably influenced by where they live.

if you live in a large, established city like NYC, Toronto, or Chicago, you probably wouldn't think a building is a high-rise unless it's 20 or 25 floors--or a specific height. meanwhile, a small town like Boise, NIMBY's consider anything over 3 floors to be a #@!ing skyscraper.

that said, my own personal definition has been anything under 50 feet to be a low-rise, 50-200 feet to be a mid, and above that to be a highrise. for now.

this forum (in the proposal and construction pages) has the starting point for high-rises at 115 feet. meanwhile, the "other" skyscraper forum suggests that high-rises start at 300 feet.

which is a long-winded way of saying:

[floor23]

How I've always classified them at work.

Low-Rise: 1 to 2 floors
Mid-Rise: 3 to 9 floors
High-Rise: 10+ floors

Emporis has an interesting way of classifying buildings. They basically get rid of "mid-rise" and classify everything either as a low-rise or high-rise

Definitions taken from Emporis:

low-rise building
Definition:
A low-rise building is an enclosed structure whose architectural height is below 35 meters, and which is divided at regular intervals into occupiable levels. It encompasses all regular multi-story buildings which are enclosed, which are below the height of a high-rise, and which are not entirely underground.

Abstract:
An enclosed structure below 35 meters which is divided into regular floor levels.

high-rise building
Definition:
A high-rise building is a structure whose architectural height is between 35 and 100 meters. A structure is automatically listed as a high-rise when it has a minimum of 12 floors, whether or not the height is known. If it has fewer than 40 floors and the height is unknown, it is also classified automatically as a high-rise.

Abstract:
A multi-story structure between 35-100 meters tall, or a building of unknown height from 12-39 floors.

[badrunner]

Here in LA the max height for a wood frame building is 6 floors so I would consider anything up to 6 floors a low-rise. Anything up to the prewar 150ft height limit I would consider that mid-rise. Anything above is a high-rise.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by floor23

How I've always classified them at work.

Low-Rise: 1 to 2 floors
Mid-Rise: 3 to 9 floors
High-Rise: 10+ floors

That seems awfully low. It might be subjective, but I'd have a hard time calling stuff like this a mid-rise: https://goo.gl/maps/69g9Kpe9cog8X5Wi9

[Steely Dan]

from my chicago perspective:

5 floors and less = lowrise (the VAST majority of the city, per the zoning code)

6 to 11 floors = midrise

12+ floors = highrise

[emathias]

I'm not aware of any "universal" standard. There are a few influential organizations that have definitions that large sub-groups share, but I call them definitions because they're really not standards in any real sense.

Personally, I consider a building to need some height to even be called a "lowrise" because I consider the "rise" in the name to derive from "highrise," so believe that anything with "rise" in it needs some height. I don't have formal numbers in my head, but if I think about how I actually use the terms in conversation or casual writing (if it were formal writing, I'd likely expressly define my terms), then these are terms I use, and how I generally use them:

1. Single-family home
2. 2/3/4/6/8-flat: This is mostly a Chicago parlance, where a 2/3/4-flat is a single-lot-width building with 2, 3 or 4 stories, usually with 1, but sometimes 2 units per floor. A 6- or 8-flat is a building that spans two standard lots and is half as many stories as the number, again usually with 1-2 units per lot, per level.
3. Courtyard building: Again, mostly a Chicago parlance, it's a building that is usually 3-6 standard lots wide that forms a U-shape, and is usually 6 floors or less tall.
4. Lowrise: Usually I consider this to be a building of 6-12 stories, but for me it's not only about height, but also the engineering involved. I usually consider it to need some sort of specially-engineered foundation, such as one with pylons or with a mat or caissons, not just a typical footing/foundation wall foundation like you'd find on smaller buildings. There are older buildings without special foundations that I might call a low-rise, though. At the high end there is some overlap in height with mid-rise, and I think that, subconsciously, I'm factoring the width-height ratio as part of my decision of which category to put buildings in the 10-14 story range in - squatter buildings I'm more likely to say "lowrise" even if it's the same height as some other narrower building I called a "midrise".
5. Midrise: Anything 15-29 stories, and maybe some buildings in the 10-14 story range, again if they "feel" taller.
6. Highrise: 30+ stories and/or 100+ meters.
7. Skyscraper: 200+ meters, based only on height, not on floor-count
8. Supertall: 80+ stories and 300+ meters, based mostly on height. I'm also very reluctant to consider more than, say, 10-15 meters of non-functional adornment to be considered as part of the height for purposes of being a super-tall.
9. Taller than supertall I don't really further differentiate with any regularity, and when I do it's mostly reserved for whatever are the current 5-10 tallest buildings so it feels a little silly to make categories for less than a dozen buildings.

[jtown,man]

High-rise= any building I would for sure die from if I fell from the top.

[SFBruin]

I would consider a low-rise to be anything from 1-4 stories, a midrise to be anything from 5-15 stories, and a highrise to be anything 16 stories or greater.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by skysoar

Is there a universal standard for classifying building structures as low, mid, or high-rise.

The short answer is NO. . .

. . .

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

from my chicago perspective:

5 floors and less = lowrise (the VAST majority of the city, per the zoning code)

6 to 11 floors = midrise

12+ floors = highrise

Same for NYC, at least via my perspective.

6-11 floors: Midrise and/or low rise ; less than 125 ft with low-rise being 1-5 floors or in some cases 6 floors depending on ceiling height

12+ floors/125.0 ft > ; high rise

Skyscraper; 350 ft to 983 ft

984 ft + ; super tall

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by skysoar

Is there a universal standard for classifying building structures as low, mid, or high-rise.

The short answer is, no. Definitions can vary quite a bits so it's always best to know what criteria people are using. It also bears mentioning that the masses tend to call anything that's 'tall' a high-rise or a skyscraper.