Residential staircase design – How to avoid mistakes

As the saying goes, you can never trust your stairs, because they are always up to something. Jokes apart, staircases have become an inevitable part of our daily lives. Nowadays almost all houses come with more than one storey. Therefore a proper staircase to connect them has become a basic necessity. A staircase is an essential component of a home as it helps to traverse from one floor to another. There are many factors to take care of in staircase design that determine how safe and comfortable a staircase is.  Today we take you through the different types of staircase designs that are common in residential constructions.  We also have a look at the factors that make the staircase easy and comfortable to use.

Image courtesy: Woodidea

In India staircases are usually made of concrete. The advantage of concrete is that you can easily mould it into the desired shape. This is particularly useful in the case of spiral and other geometric designs. However if you would like to enhance the visual appeal, your go-to options would be stone, glass, metal or wood.

The size of the tread and rise together determine the size of a step. For residential buildings, the tread should be 250-300mm for comfortable ascend/descend. Similarly, the riser should not be more than 180mm. 150mm is the ideal height for a riser.

In order to fix the number of steps, you need to first fix the height of a riser as per the standards mentioned above.

• • • Number of steps = Floor to floor height / Height of a riser.
    • Number of treads will always be one less than the number of risers.

The handrails and balusters should be strong enough to support the weight of the people using the stairs. Balusters should be placed in such a way that is safe for small children. The top of the handrails should be between 900mm to 1000mm from the stairs. It should extend at least 300mm beyond the top and bottom risers.

Stairways can be classified into ramps, staircases and ladders based on their slope or steepness. The preferred slope for normal stairways is around 30-50 degrees, with the optimum value being 37 degrees.   The ideal staircase has to be a balance between the ease of climbing and the available space.

Straight Staircases

As the name indicates this type of staircase has a straight linear flight of stairs without any change in direction. This type of staircase is most suitable for large rooms. There may or may not be a landing area in between; depending on the overall height of the staircase. Straight staircases are the easiest to build and the most user-friendly. Since the staircase has a straight design, it is relatively simple to build railings and handrails. Straight staircases offer clear visibility from one floor to another. However, a single flight of stairs from the top to bottom makes straight cases difficult to climb. Furthermore, straight staircases are slightly more dangerous than the other types that have landings.

L shaped Staircases

The L shaped staircase design is a variation of the straight staircase. The major difference is that in an L shaped staircase, the stairs will bend left or right; usually at an angle of 90 degrees, thereby introducing a mandatory landing space in between. Depending on the size of the room and other design considerations, the landing can be either near the top or bottom of the stairs. If the landing is close to the top or bottom of the stairs, one flight becomes longer than the others and this kind of staircase is called a Long L stair.

A normal L shaped staircase is also known as a quarter-turn staircase. There is a slightly more complicated variation of the L shaped staircase, wherein instead of a flat landing, there are triangular steps at the corner transition. These are called winder stairs.

Though L shaped staircases are visually more appealing, they are more difficult to build compared to their straight counterparts. The presence of a landing space in between makes the L shaped staircase easier to traverse, especially by seniors. However this also means that the landing space requires additional supporting members like steel.

U shaped Staircases

U shaped or half turn staircases are basically two parallel flights of straight stairs with a landing space joining them. Unlike the L shaped stairs where the landing creates a 90 degrees turn, the U shaped stairs come with a 180-degree turn. This is a basic and traditional staircase design.

The U shaped and L shaped staircases can be built either in dog-legged or open newel type designs.

You may go for a dog-legged design when the available space is twice the width of the staircase.  Here there are two parallel flights of stairs that run in opposite directions. There would be no space between the balustrades in this kind of design.

In the Newel or Open well design, there is an open space or well between the two parallel flights of stairs. This open space can either be a landing space or a short flight of stairs. The width of the open well depends on the available space in the building.

The U shaped staircases offer excellent privacy between the floors as you cannot see the top floor from the bottom floor and vice versa. So if privacy is a major factor in your residence, you now know which type of staircase to go for!

Geometrical Staircases

Several geometrical shapes like spiral or elliptical find their place in staircase designs. More than its functionality, geometrically shaped staircases are built primarily for their aesthetic appeal and architectural finesse. When properly constructed a spiral staircase would look like a circle when viewed from above. They have winder type steps that emanate from a central pole. They can be built in small spaces, but are more expensive and are not comfortable to climb.

Curved Staircases

These are arched stairs that consist of a continuous flight of stairs without any landing. They require constructional finesse as the entire structure including the banisters has to be built in a curved fashion.

Bifurcated Staircases

Remember the final scene of the movie Titanic where Jack waits for the love of his life with the Captain and the others in attendance? Remember the staircase with the wooden balustrade? This is the bifurcated staircase, the most magnificent of all staircases!!

Also known as the split staircase, you can see bifurcated staircases in large palatial homes. They begin with a flight of wide stairs leading up to a landing space, from where they bifurcate to two narrower flights of stairs – one going left and the other to the right.  The bifurcated staircase, no doubt serves as a style statement.

• Reducing the width of the staircase to save cost/space. It might seem quite tempting to reduce the width and size of the staircase however it is almost certain to do more harm than good in the long run.
• A steep slope of the staircase. It is always wise to follow the statutory recommendations when it comes to the slope of a staircase. Steep staircases are difficult to traverse and are prone to accidents, especially with the elderly and kids.
• Less than recommended width of the tread and height of the risers.
• Having too little or too many steps in a flight. Too many steps in a flight make the ascend tiresome and disorienting. It also increases the risk of injury in case of a fall. Similarly, too few steps will make the staircase take up additional space. An average of 12 or 13 steps per flight is recommended.
• Lack of or improper materials for the handrail. Incorrect height of the handrails. Handrails should be strong enough to withstand people leaning on them.
• Excessive width between the balusters. This is especially important in families that have small children.
• Insufficient headroom – The minimum headroom above any step should be 2m.
• Poor lighting – It is very important to traverse staircases carefully to avoid accidents. Therefore it is imperative that they have proper lighting.

The space below the staircase need not always be a dump yard or a place to store all your junk. If your staircase design is properly planned, you could transform this space into something pleasant. It can double as various corners, especially in houses that are small in size. Here are some options that you could try out in the space beneath your staircase. Do check out the video below for more creative ideas.

• As a cosy library
• A seating/study spot
• Landscaping
• A nook for the kids
• A shoe rack
• A covered storage space
• Washbasin unit or a guest toilet
• A bar counter

Have a look at these videos for creative ideas from across the globe for effective usage of the space beneath the staircase and also for stunning staircase designs.

Hope this article has helped you shape up a basic understanding of the types of staircases. Do feel free to get in touch with us for any aspect regarding house construction. Our team is happy to help!!