Floating Oak Staircase

The owners of this Victorian townhouse wanted to open the heart of the house without losing its character. The original staircase was dark, enclosed and stole light from every landing.

Our brief was simple to say and hard to do: connect four floors, keep the daylight, and let the architecture breathe.

The answer was a cantilevered flight of solid oak treads projecting from a single board-formed concrete wall. With no visible structure and no risers, light passes freely from the rooflight down to the entrance hall.

Recessed lights set into the concrete wash each tread in the evening, so the staircase reads as a sequence of floating planes — quiet by day, sculptural by night.

What was once the darkest corner of the house is now the reason guests stop in the hallway.