Stairs that pull you in
Elements of a great stairway:
• A view ahead
Forest Drive Stair
• Transitions
• In between spaces
• Light to draw you forward
A great stairway should consist of a mix of many elements working together to create a graceful transition from one part of your home to another.
These four make a good place to start, and are found to one extent or another in most inviting stairs. Think about homes with stairs that seemed really interesting, and added something to your experience of the house. If you think about it probaly most of these elements where there.
When considering a stair think of the mental transition you would like to experience when going from a more common public part of your home into a more personal and private area. How can the journey help that change in outlook?
So lets look at them one at a time.
- Stair landing study
A view ahead:
In any area of your home or yard providing a glimpse of where you are going will make for a more inviting and interesting journey getting there. If the glimpse is just that a small piece of it offering a taste of what is to come but not the whole view so much the better. A teaser look lets use know there is something special up ahead but we know there is more we have not yet seen, or would like to experience more of, having seen it before.
Transitions:
A space that is nether here, where you are, or there, where you are going. This can be a change in level of a step or two with a landing or well delineated edge between two rooms. It can be a change in the width of a hallway, widening out before you get to your room. The key to transitions is that they allow, even encourage, non-commitment. You may take a step or two onto the landing to get a better glimpse of what is up ahead. You may use the steps and seating while taking with your kids in the hall, or step up them to get a better view over guests at a party. A little short landing makes a great multi-use area, inviting a slue of casual uses.
In between spaces:
This is taking the simple landing described above and adding some small amount of function to it. Is there room for a bench, a bookshelf, some object that could be of casual interest or usefulness. So now the transition area is a space with some use, but it is still a very casual and inviting accidental leftover bit of stuff, inviting you to take a perusal of a bookshelf or maybe do some minor rearranging of flowers in a vase.
Light to draw you forward:
Natural light is a wonderful, substance, warming our hearts and homes. We are all attracted to natural light. When you provide light from above people will be positively drawn to go up and to see where the light is coming from. We can make great use of it to draw us from and into different parts of our home or yard.
Putting the elements together, an illustration.
• Open the floor plate so the stair becomes an object within its own space. Allow a view to balcony rails above so a conversation can be freely held with the participants within easy view of each other.
• Provide a gradual two step rise up to a generous lading where you can set some piece of furniture, a writing desk, bookshelf, something like that. With more room you might consider an alcove off the landing with a setting nook with an inviting looking chair and side table.
• Keep the stair runs short and possibly add a turn to them at a generous midway landing. Make this landing less grand then the lower one, but still consider providing a space for a bench or table to help create a sense of pause where you can appreciate the setting and maybe give you a moment to catch your breath as well. A grand window with light poring in filling the space with a warm glow would be well placed at this landing as well.
• Day light; windows twisting up the stair will enliven your journey and draw you upwards along the stair. A more distant light at the top of the run is also good, it hints that there is an extensive, and possibly interesting space we are headed towards.
• The top landing like the bottom should be a space of multiple activity’s and views. It could be a common area before you enter the bedrooms or some other semi private function. Think of it as the lobby for milling about in before settling down. If it has a function or two such as being a study area or exercise area so much the better. If you can give it a view and a place to sit and read it will be better yet.
All the elements listed are highly interconnected and work together to make an interesting and Inviting event out of moving from one level of your home to the next.
… and a concluding thought
In more general terms the advantage of creating these transitions, and places to get away from others while yet not be completely separated, is that they provide a useful middle ground. Marginal spaces, those that are nether here nor there, the in-between unclassified areas, offer a sense of refuge but not total isolation. They help the house perform on more levels and create a more complex and welcoming sense of space and enclosure.
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