Leighton Contractors recently contracted Arden Architectural Staircases to provide their design solutions and construction expertise for a rather unusual project.

Leighton was facing extremely tight schedules and approached Arden to devise a simple and time effective solution for a large, multi-storey temporary fire egress staircase and structure. The fire egress staircase was required to replace an existing staircase earmarked for demolition to allow the first stage of the new QUT Science and Technology Precinct project to commence.

To be completed in 2012, the 10-level, two-tower facility of the QUT Science and Technology Precinct will house up to 500 scientists, postgraduate research students and teaching staff, with thousands of people using the facilities every week.

Though not exactly a feature staircase and unlikely to grace any picture gallery, this project and the fire egress staircase is crucial to the overall success of this landmark project.