13th Floor In High Rise Buildings
Many people refuse to sleep on a floor with the number 13 or even in room numbered 13.
13th floor in high rise buildings. The 13th floor has long been skipped out of superstition with elevator buttons jumping directly from the 12th to the 14th floor. If you took a survey of high rises i think you d find 90 percent don t have a 13th floor. A mechanical floor mechanical penthouse mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. The habit of leaving out the 13th floor in tall hotels is a relatively new one.
The thirteenth floor is a designation of a level of a multi level building that is often omitted in countries where the number 13 is considered unlucky. Skyscrapers did not come about until 1885. If you live in a newly built high rise building in vancouver you may have noticed a few missing floors. Some hotels skip the number 13 and go straight to 14 when numbering floors.
Samuel lewis general manager of the lefrak management company told the new york times that the superstition has now affected the overwhelming majority of tall buildings in america. Omitting the 13th floor may take a variety of forms. The most common include denoting what would otherwise be considered the thirteenth floor as level 14 giving the thirteenth floor an alternate designation such as 12a or m the. The designation of a 13th floor in some tall buildings particularly hotels has been purposely omitted due to old superstitions about the number 13.
It is because of the disorder triskaidekaphobia and a general dislike of or superstition regarding the number 13. These days it s practically scripture. To avoid this problem the 13th level of some buildings is simply re named. Mechanical is the most commonly used term but words such as utility technical service and plant are also used.
That means 91 percent of buildings with a 13th floor. That s an estimate based on 650 mid and high rise buildings that have filed condo declarations with new york city since 2003 including luxury towers going up right now such as 53w53 and 225 w. Even then the first skyscraper the home insurance building was. They are present in all tall buildings including the world s tallest skyscrapers with significant.