BUILDING DESIGN

Building Design gives you access to all the products and services you need to design and complete buildings for residential, commercial, industrial, health, educational, retail, leisure and public amenity uses.

Sweeping, spiralling staircases can be breath-taking to behold (and even more so to climb). In this issue, the focus is on stairs, steps, balustrades and handrails.

Some very different products and projects are featured – from industrial steel fire escapes to luxurious glass stair installations in private residences.

In the first of our two blog posts this month, my colleague Emma Garrell explores four remarkable spiral and helical staircases (do you know the difference between the two?) – one of which is rumoured to have been built by St Joseph the Carpenter himself.

In the second post, I look at our continued fascination with staircases; the esprit d’escalier and the rich symbolism that is attached to this building element.

Featured case studies

Featured on our blogs

Spiral staircases – reaching dizzying heights

Spiral staircases used to show opulence and grandeur in period properties and the homesof aristocrats and royalty. Today they are found in houses throughout the world; you can even buy do-it-yourself kits off the internet. There are many examples of fantastic spiral and helical staircases around the world, some even dating as far back as the 1600s
Esprit d'escalier – the wit and symbolism of the staircase

What is it that fascinates us so much about staircases? More symbolically rich than any other building element, the staircase gives rise to a multitude of associations.