Stairs have a double role — striking in their impact, they also provide a simple function of moving people from one level to another. Deborah Singerman reports on one of the first things we notice when we walk into a room.

Apart from pre-fabricated, flat pack staircases, every stair is customised as every stairwell is different, with the available heights and space important considerations.

According to Slattery & Acquroff, a Victorian- based company that has been designing, building and manufacturing stairs for over 80 years, builders, architects, designers and owners need to be clear on the product they desire from stair builders. “It depends on what the designer is looking for. It is important that the style of stair complements the interior of the home where the stair is located,” says Rob Beard, the company’s director. “This will minimise the risk of having a stair or balustrade that is out of kilter with the rest of the house.”

There are three main stair types are: classic, contemporary and spiral.

The main classic styles include Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian, Federation, Art Deco or Arts and Crafts, with Colonial and Federation being the most popular, possibly because they are the ‘truest’ Australian styles. Moreover, Slattery & Acquroff says that Colonial is most popular in Sydney, and in Melbourne, Victorian and Federation dominate, reflecting the boom periods in each city.

Contemporary staircases, whether curved or geometric, allow freer, less restrictive designs, emphasising clean, elegant lines and minimalist edges. Contemporary stairs tend to have square instead of rounded nosings, with treads butting up against walls without the use of traditional wall stringers.

Spiral staircases are usually used in tight spaces, with curved treads and a larger footstep area providing a comfortable walking line. Stairs from enzie, for instance, can be as small as 1 sqm and go up to 4 sqm. They are built from high grade materials, including aluminium, stainless steel, galvanised steel and solid timber. Their clean, sculptured lines blend with both modern and traditional décor and the modular construc tion can be assembled to curve to the right or left of the central column. The staircase ranges are available in 1,300 mm, 1,500 mm, 1,750 mm and 1,880 mm diameters.

The modern staircase trend, generally, is mini malist using glass, stainless steel, stainless steel wires and simple square timber components. Melbourne-based architect Avi Milder believes 90 per cent of stairs, whether classic or contempo rary, are still made of timber because “people like the warmth”.

Even in Sydney there are historical and region al trends. Maple, teak, blackwood and walnut were popular in their day, whereas it is now Tasmanian oak, Victorian ash, Sydney blue gum, spotted gum and blackbutt. Traditional staircases also use decorative iron and steel.

Timber’s design flexibility is also a plus. “A quality Australian species set of stairs will usually provide a much stronger aesthetic than metal or other materials. Appearance grade timber used for stairs is a specialist wood production process,” says Dave Angus, Boral Timber’s marketing man ager. Timber stairs also offer many design options and can be partially overlayed with carpet if required.

Timber is also “lightweight yet with structural strength and is not as heavy as steel for installa tion. Structural hardwoods can last many decades and provide structural support to a dwelling. Fire-rated species such as blackbutt and spotted gum have good char rates and will not buckle or collapse like steel. This can add to structural support during a house fire,” Angus says.

Other materials have their own advantages. Steel is hardwearing and strong, allowing stair companies to increase the span and length of the stair, making it suitable for commer cial stairs that are exposed to high traffic. Rooms with glass in the stair cases, not surprisingly, feel more open and airy. enzie’s latest spiral stair sys tem, the enfold, wraps panels of toughened safety glass by Bent and Curved Glass in Sydney around the structure for what it calls a “lighter than air” look.

Stainless steel has become the most popular material for balustrades, which may include verti cal balusters, stainless steel wires with stanchions and, in some cases, stainless steel handrails. It is easy to keep clean and is non-corrosive so does not rust.

Unsupported stairs are allowed, though they can create challenges and require careful choice of materi als, depending on each case. “Some people don’t like open stairs. It makes them nervous. It just depends on who you’re working for,” Milder says.

Generally, the finished surface of a staircase (commonly carpet or pol ished timber) will most likely be dic tated by the floor surfaces on both the lower and upper levels. This means weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of different materi als. For instance, carpet deadens noise and has a non-slip surface but traffic up and down stairs means it will wear out faster than the rest of the house.

Whether emphasising function or feature, Milder is convinced “there are no rights or wrongs. If it’s a func tional one the stairs end up hidden. If it’s carpeted I just use custom wood. If it’s a timber stair I have a liking for the dark red timbers such as the Sydney blue gums. The choice of tim ber is a personal thing. Tastes are always changing.”

Nevertheless, Beard, who is chair man of the technical committee of the Staircase and Balustrade Association of Australia, warns: “There are not many joinery items in a home that must be installed with zero tolerance — stairs are one. Over the last few years many staircases have been reworked or removed because of minimal (in some cases 1 mm) variation in the rise, handrail or balustrade heights. Whether a stair case is timber, steel or concrete with tiles, the same rules apply.” With a spiral staircase, for instance, enzie says there is no limit to the height you can go, but building authorities may require a landing every 18 rises.

Beard agrees that compliance with the Building Code of Australia and appropriate Australian standards is essential. “Specifically, the stair builder must be aware of the floor finishes to the adjacent floor areas to ensure that the riser heights through out the stair are uniform (generally, the wider the width of tread, the smaller the rise) and that a level handrail meets a minimum height of 1m above the finished floor levels.”

Deborah Singerman

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