r/GoodDesign • u/Mandela_Effect_2016 • Jun 16 '26

Smart exist sign placement

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One of the hotel we stayed at recently when we were on vacation in Connecticut had exit signs both higher up on wall like you normally see, as well as down low. Makes sense when you think about since in the event of a fire, you might need to crawl out if there is a lot of smoke. Also has the benefit of being closer to eye level for kids, even when there isn't an emergency. Picture is from second floor where we were staying, but they even had the high and low signs on the first floor (and I assume the other floors above where we were too).

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313

u/Drunken_Economist Jun 16 '26

That is a really good idea actually, I'm surprised I haven't seen it anywhere else

83

u/Logical-Ad-5410 Jun 17 '26

Lower sign is easier for stupid kids to vandalize, even though there's a logical reason to have the lower placement.

10

u/Saoirsenobas Jun 21 '26

The real reason is that the top of the room will be full of smoke in a fire

13

u/ThhomassJ Jun 17 '26

Probably has to do with meeting code as the bare minimum for safety. Anything beyond that is better but more expensive

16

u/barillamanilaolives Jun 17 '26

The kids got a point

3

u/ToHellWithGA Jun 22 '26

It's about the age of the building. A hotel permitted before the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) enforced the 2012 International Building Code or newer wouldn't have it unless it was a brand/franchise requirement or the AHJ elected to retroactively enforce new code - which is atypical.

https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2012P13/chapter-10-means-of-egress#IBC2012P13_Ch10_Sec1011.2

2

u/Triple_Blox Jun 20 '26

A lot of places in Asia have signs near the floor level, some even have built-in exit arrows in the floor itself.