Into The Upstairs

Welcome to a private home in the inside of Islington, London. It’s here that an unnamed client asked some design heroes (listed below) to replace their lowly ladder to their loft with a permanent staircase. This loft was to be turned into a study and the connection needed to be improved! This staircase, thusly, was to fit inside a space of 140 cm x 90 cm (aka approximately 4.59 feet by 2.95 feet.) Wowzers!

The floor you’d start on and the floor you’d end up on in this home were very different. On the lower floor, carpeted Victorian with engraved banisters, on the higher floor, a wood-clad loft with “clean modern lines.” Thusly, a solution by the name of glass, a banister, and some extremely thin steps.

At the top, the opening to the loft was widened to not only accommodate the staircase but also to let in more light into the otherwise dark landing area on the lower floor. This light connects the two floors and invites all comers to bring themselves up to the higher space.

Materials: 6mm welded and painted steel sheet, 50mm painted steel post, 20mm toughened glass.

General Contractor: Krzysztof Potocki
Metal work: Metalex
Structural Engineer: HPS
Photography: Tamir Addadi

Designer: Tamir Addadi