Styles of railings

In order to connect the two floors there are various options of staircases you could choose from. Firstly,you can go for a conventional RCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete) staircase with stone on the treads and risers. Secondly,you can have a metal staircase cast by a metal fabricator. This could either be in steel or aluminium. The treads could be of wood,reinforced glass (the glass can be bottom lit for a dramatic effect),or in metal itself. Thirdly,you could go in for a wooden staircase. The staircase may be in the form of 2 parallel flights of staircase,L-shaped staircase or a single flight of steps with a landing in the middle keeping in mind site conditions,structural considerations and budget.

In terms of the styles of railings,I would like to explain that there are two parts to a staircase railing – the vertical members and the hand rail. The vertical members could be of metal,i.e. mild steel or aluminium. You could have these fabricated to your taste or you could pick up pre-fabricated ones from the market. Also these can be in wood. The hand rail can be wooden,a metal pipe or in PVC. You could bring in colour to your staircase by using some bright coloured paint on the metal parts of the staircase. Regarding the ground floor to the mezzanine staircase,you could consider having a spiral staircase since space is a consideration.

While selecting stone for the staircase,keep in mind the following. The staircase takes stone on two surfaces – the horizontal surface known as the tread and the vertical face known as the riser. The tread is the surface which takes the wear and tear,so one needs to select a hard stone for this surface. Go in for a hard variety of marble,granite or any other stone as per your taste,budget etc. For the riser you can use the same stone or a different colour one in order to create a visual interest and to clearly demarcate the riser from the tread. Stone thickness for the tread should be a minimum ¾th inch or 19mm to about an inch or 25 mm. The stone for the riser could be of the same thickness if its stone is from the same slab for economical and visual reasons. In case you decide to go in for a different stone for the vertical face or the riser,it could even be ½ inch or 12 mm thick since this surface takes less wear and tear. If the riser and tread are of two different colour stones,keeping in mind wear and tear,go in for a darker colour for the tread and lighter colour for the riser. The front edge of the tread should ideally protrude from the riser by about ½ inch or 12mm to about an inch. This is known as the nosing. The nosing should ideally have a half round or rounded profile otherwise the stone edge is prone to chipping. Also one may go in for one or two grooves in the stone of the tread along its length. These are primarily done for reducing the possibility of slipping by reducing the friction between the stone and the surface of the foot or shoe. Regarding the colour of the stone,darker colour stones show less dirt,scratches etc. especially on the tread. However breaking the wall on one or two sides of the steps has structural implications.

Depending on whether the walls on the two sides of the staircase are load-bearing or non-load-bearing,one should go ahead with this suggestion. I recommend consulting the architect or structural engineer of the building before doing any breakage. The walls on the side or sides of the steps would have to be strengthened with a beam.

The handrail would be fitted to the wall with metal clamps at regular intervals going into the walls. This would also reduce the extent of breakage of the walls,as compared to the first option. l

The author is an architect

Design dilemmas,construction conundrums,interiors issues. Mail your questions to

estatesqueries@gmail.com