Introduction

THE arrangement of the staircase constitutes one of the most important branches of interior design in all architectural schemes. The staircase is the principal link in a plan between two or more floors which it connects, and it must be considered equally from the standpoints of utility and beauty. The student should be acquainted with the elementary rules of staircase design and construction in various materials, and in particular be familiar with the ratio between the treads and risers in a flight so as to ensure easy “going.” It is not the purpose of this Series to deal with the minute parts of staircase construction, but to show arrangements which experience has proved to be effective under certain conditions.

Staircases contained within rectangular, square, circular and elliptical compartments are included, with a variety of treatments especially suited to the particular plan form, but no attempt has been made to show exceptional dispositions of flights which are often more remarkable for their ingenuity than for the impressiveness and directness of result. Types have been selected from many well-known buildings, and architectural detail has only been suggested in order that the underlying principles can be the more readily grasped.

Three factors determine the position of a staircase in a plan: first, its situation in regard to the principal apartments; secondly, the desirability of preserving axial communication free from obstruction; and thirdly, the necessity of providing adequate lighting not only to the staircase but also along adjacent corridors, vestibules and other communications, the staircase acting as a “well’ for the distribution of light. The examples chosen for illustration fulfil these conditions in-so-far as they are considered as isolated motives. Every opportunity should be taken of studying this important feature in situ, and buildings should be visited in order to appreciate first-hand the possibilities of staircase design.