Architects love stairs: it's a chance to create sculpture in a domestic environment. Here are some of our recent favorites.
Above: A staircase in Sander Architects' Canal House features treads that were made by folding half-inch steel plate.
Above: In a renovation of a pre-war New York townhouse by Julian King Architects, a minimalist steel handrail negotiates the transition between a floor of reclaimed brick pavers and ipe treads that float up the wall.
Above: Cast-iron treads and railing of black-oxidized cold-rolled steel form a sculptural stair in an Upper East Side townhouse by Deborah Berke & Partners Architects. Photography by Jason Schmidt.
Above: A glass-and-steel staircase with open rises allows light to filter through a renovated 1906 Victorian in San Francisco by Feldman Architecture. Photograph by Paul Dyer.
Above: Leather stitching along a staircase in Casa do Conto, a Portuguese hotel renovated by Pedra Liquida (see: The Story of Casa do Conto). Photography by FG+SG.
Above: Architect Owen Kennerly designed a railing with hemp twine and storage niches for a San Francisco house (see: Owen Kennerly Renovation in San Francisco). Photograph by Matthew Millman.
Above: For a Bay Area home, CCS Architecture designed with open risers made of white oak and railings cables of stainless steel. Photography by César Rubio (L) and Eric Laignel (R).