Founder and Design Director of Bisca, Richard McLane, has long been inspired by the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. This is evident from Bisca’s recent design and installation of a staircase in West Yorkshire.
This staircase has been designed to share the elements of Mackintosh’s design style and is rooted in the integrity of the arts and crafts movement.
The new build’s property owner held an interesting staircase concept, which had been drawn up by the client’s architect. The client went onto several staircase manufacturers to search for an installer for his staircase and soon realised that the architect’s drawings alone were not sufficient and what he actually needed was a complete design.
The client approached Bisca to design a stunning, sculptural piece that was visually lightweight with elements of oak and glass. The client wanted the staircase to serve as the main feature to his entrance lobby, allowing light to flood down from above. With this is mind he did not wish the view across the lobby, from the living areas at either side and to the rear, to be affected by this design.
The main statement
The staircase currently sits as the sole occupant of the lobby area. Bisca installed a glass floor panel directly above the staircase which has enhanced the perfect symmetry that accompanies the staircase. The glass panel itself has been extensively detailed, using the same angular theme found on the interior wall panels, and draws in feature panels on the interior walls.
The main desired focus for the area that surrounds the staircase was the flow of light, resulting in pale oak and low-iron glass being the obvious choices when it came to design.
English oak was used throughout the staircase’s design due to its superior grain, compared to European oak, which is due to the vagaries of the English climate. English oak also reflected the overall ethos of the whole property.
Low-iron glass, although more expensive, was used throughout the design of the staircase. The difference between low-iron glass and standard glass is the result; which is visually extremely clear. This contributed to the desired light that floods in via the above glass floor panel.
The lobby itself has two slim windows which do not offer much light. The majority of the light comes from above and from the windows via the bright open kitchen to the rear of the lobby area. By keeping the design visually lightweight, and using structural balustrading, instead of timber or steel stringers to support the treads, allowed maximum light to circulate the room.
Laminated low-iron structural glass was a prerequisite for both visual clarity and strength. The glass has hidden structural fixings in order to support the treads, which appear to be floating, and also to act as a beam support.
Flared treads were selected for the foot of the staircase for a number of reasons, the staircase needed to be accessed from 360° – from the living areas each side of the staircase, from the rear kitchen and from the front door. The flared treads also balanced out the two directional flights at the top of the staircase and prevented the whole design from looking top-heavy.
The fluidity of the handrail brings a slight softness as it flows from the feature, through to the organic shaped newels at the foot of the staircase, up the stairs and around the landing gallery. The journey up the staircase organically becomes more angular and Mackintosh-like as you reach the first floor, with clean lines, panelled walls, a central mirror and rectangular glass balustrades.
The property itself is wonderfully crafted from Yorkshire stone and cantilevered pillars over the doorways. Although the staircase is not viewable from the exterior, it shares the same engineered elegance, with a slightly organic feel. On approaching the property, visitor’s expectations, raised by the exterior of the house, are more than met when the staircase comes into view from the open doorway.