Stairs & Staircases

Traditional VS Contemporary Design

Traditional staircase design is very ridged and follows a series of rules and conventions. Contemporary staircases design was developed to break some of the conventional rules of staircase design to create someone more unique that can become the focal point of the overall architecture design. Contemporary Staircase designs are individual and specifically personalize for the owner’s desires and requirements.

Use of Materials

The possibilities of contemporary staircase design have been greatly increase and influenced by the ever increasing availability of new materials. The mixing and matching of such a wide variety of materials with the use of creativity and experimentation enables designers to produce limitless design possibilities. The use of both stainless steel and glass in the handrails and balustrade has become very popular as it creates a clean, minimalist design look and feel.

Shape and Size

Contemporary staircase design not only experiments with materials but also with shapes and sizes. Obviously the staircase needs to comply with national safety standards with reduces the element of creativity and shape and style a little but it is amazing to see just how creative designers can be while still working within these standards. The ‘U’ shaped staircase is becoming very popular as it takes up less room within the house and is therefore a great space saving choice. The concept of placing ‘bullnose steps’ at the bottom of a flight of stairs has also been introduced to create variety and special feature to the staircase design.

The implementation of organic curves has also become popular in contemporary staircase design as it creates a unique and unpredictable element to the design.

Whilst handrails are primarily installed for the safety of people moving up or down a stair, they also form an integral part of the decorative style of the balustrade.

They are traditional made from wood; however modern staircase handrails designs are now also made from stainless steel and other such materials.

There are two main types of staircase handrails; continuous rails (that consist of a single rail that starts that the bottom of the stair case and continues in a smooth curve all the way to the top) and rails that stop and restart as stairs change direction.

Features

Staircase handrails can also have a number of specialised features with either an aesthetic or functional purpose. Some of these include:

• Landing Wreath (A landing wreath makes the change from flight to level and usually turns 90°. It can also be used to return into a wall.)
• Quarter Turn (A quarter turn is used to change directions on a level section of balustrade)
• Ramp (Allows transition from flight to level or flight to flight because of a change of pitch between them.)
• Return End
• Swan Neck (These are used to climb from a flight pitch to vertical to make up the required head difference between flight and landing. Once the height is reached they mitre to level across a landing or first floor.)
• Starting Wreath (Usually begins by turning 90° out of a post or off a wall then continues up a flight)
• Paired Wreaths (Two wreaths at a specified radius joined together that will connect one flight to the next and will turn through 180°.)
• Wreathed Rail (This is any section of the flight rail that needs to curve around and twist to suit a curved staircase.)

Ends

Decorate ends can be added to staircase handrails to add an elegant feature to the rail. Beautifully crafted from solid timber these are often used in Classical styles to add a touch of grandure to the staircase entry.

Modern Staircase Design

What describes modern staircase design? Elegance, clean and crisp lines, sharp, simplicity, minimalist, quality… Modern stair design is restricted only by the designer’s imagination but should strive to achieve function and style. Complex structures and geometric shapes should appear effortless with broad flowing lines and clean edges. Elegance without extravagance.

When choosing a modern staircase design there are few things to take into consideration, including style, function, lighting, flooring surface, safety and tripping points. …

Modern Style

Combinations of materials

Storage

Floating staircase

Collapsible staircase