Have you ever wondered why we have so many nine-story buildings built during the Soviet era? Not 7, not 8 and not 10, namely 9 floors. Let's figure it out together! Here's what information I was able to find.
In Soviet times, namely, in the 50-60s of the last century, a rapid improvement in the living conditions of citizens began. If before many people lived in communal apartments and wooden barracks, now the goal was to provide each family with their own square meters. All working citizens were immediately put in line for apartments.
People were happy with this turn, even if the apartments are small, but they are their own square meters. And the time was new, after Stalin, after a while Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev came to power. And the problem of resettlement of citizens was helped by the famous "Khrushchevs". Small kitchens, a shared bathroom, low ceilings, and walk-through rooms were envisaged in the “Khrushchevs”. Somehow small, modest, but all the same, the Soviet people were incredibly happy!
"Khrushchevs" were built in five-storey buildings. And after 10 years they were replaced by nine-story buildings. And the most interesting thing is that these were 9-storey houses, not 8 or 10. So the question is: why 9? Maybe there is no point in this, well, 9 and 9. But, as it turned out, it’s not just that!
It turns out that the construction of the nine-story houses was thought out to the smallest detail! The main reason for this was the economy.
The construction of high-rise buildings was massive. An instruction was given: to build as many houses as possible, for as many families as possible, but at the same time construction costs should be minimal. But there were also certain standards that had to be adhered to. And it is for this reason that high-rise buildings of 9 floors were built.
According to government standards, an elevator was provided in every building with more than five floors. Therefore, if you build a ten-story building, then you had to install 2 elevators: one passenger, and the other for cargo transportation.
And one more small nuance. In the event that a high-rise building was higher than 28 meters, then there must have been a smoke-free staircase on it. If we again talk about nine-storey buildings, then their height was only 27 meters. And it turned out that no ladder was needed here, which means that it was a real economy. There is only one elevator, no stairs needed, saving public money, at the same time, many apartments, and everyone is happy!
By all calculations, it was clear that 1 square meter in a nine-story building is much cheaper than in a ten-story building. That is why it was decided to build up the USSR with exactly nine-story buildings!
There was another option considered by the services, these are houses with 14 floors. These houses were also beneficial to the state. The only problem was that such tall buildings could not be erected on any soil. This was another requirement, and as a result, they did not begin to build 14-storey buildings.
In addition, for houses with more than 9 floors, a separate pumping station should have been provided in order to provide apartments with gas. And this is again quite costly. Therefore, in those houses where 10 or more floors were nevertheless built, electric stoves were installed. Here again there are big financial losses, because the energy consumption for these stoves was quite large.
Summing up, having estimated all the pros and cons, it was unequivocally decided that it is much more economical to build nine-story houses. That's the whole secret!
The original article is posted here: https://kabluk.me/poleznoe/pochemu-v-sovetskom-sojuze-stroili-odni-devyatietazhki.html
