Flame Feature Stair

Project Info

The architect’s brief was to form the stair in the image of the client’s company logo, which is the shape of a flame. The client wanted a minimalist appearance within a reasonable budget.

The judges describe the result as “a complex piece of geometry, with an open centred stair around an eccentric ellipse that, on completion, is an extremely high quality piece of joinery.

The stair consists of three flights, from basement to second floor, which had to be designed to suit the openings already formed with steel supports. Three timber types, American white oak, American ash and European redwood, were used along with plywood, square tapered spindles and an oval mopstick handrail.

Preparing the working drawings and setting out rods was a challenge because of the number of radii involved. To overcome transport, weight and access problems the stair was manufactured at EA Higginson’s workshop, dismantled and delivered to site as components.

The judges sum the stair up as “a very impressive piece of work.”