Designed Stairs

Designed Stairs has the experience to design structural, open-riser staircases that are also beautiful works of contemporary art.

  • Curved Assembled Stairs

    At Designed Stairs we rate the difficulty of installation on a scale of 1 to 5, with level 1 being the simplest to install for a good trim carpenter, and level 5 requiring the highest level of stair installation specialist. Most often, curved stairs are categorized as level 1 or level 2. This makes assembled curved stairs a great option for some builders. We take care of the designing and building processes, and your trim carpenters take care of the installation.

    Here’s how it works:

    We start by looking at the plans to determine if assembled stairs will work for the specific project.  It is important to consider things like the shape and configuration of the stairs, if they will fit through the door assembled, among other factors. 

    Our technicians and engineer fine tune the stair’s design for the final product to flow beautifully as one piece, considering any transitions between multiple radii on the stringers and rails. 

    We can provide framing details for the walls around the stairs as needed to make sure that the stairs will fit precisely on site.  We then build this same framing on the decks at our shop to build the stairs and fit the rails to.  Once completed, the stair is taken down in one piece and the rail in a separate piece for delivery.  Delivery is provided by Designed Stairs throughout our standard service area (all of Chicagoland, NW Indiana, and SE Wisconsin) and by common carrier elsewhere. 

    Once the stair is on site, installation is very straightforward, and we provide any instructions needed.  Since the stair is in one piece, it only needs to be fit at the header and the rest will fall into place.  At this point, the curved walls around the stairs can be framed.  Once newels are fit, rails can be installed quickly since they are already fit to the stair. 

    For more complex stairs, we offer full installation throughout the Chicagoland and installation training or assistance by one of our level 5 skill installers in any location.  This is a great option if you have a highly skilled trim carpentry team that just needs some specific direction. 

     

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  • Keys To Designing An Elegant Curved Stair

    Curved stairs by a curved red wall

    No one designs a curved staircase for the simple purpose of getting from one floor to another; there are other, much more practical ways of getting that done if you don’t care what it looks like.

    A curved staircase is an enduring statement of elegance and one of the most functional pieces of art in the realm of human design. If elegance is what you are after, there are a few keys that will get you there.

    First will be the proper placement of the staircase into the structure, which should be addressed at the earliest stages of design work. How will the staircase affect spaces immediately surrounding it? How will the stair be viewed from the entry to the home or from the side through adjoining rooms? Does the staircase offer a welcoming angle at the base and have a stunning angle of ascent to the second floor above?

    Second is the allowance of space. If the proper amount of room is not considered to allow a stair to be built with geometric consistency and adherence to proper safety codes, even the most knowledgeable stair designer will not be able to deliver the elegance you had envisioned.

    The third key to a “knock-out” curved stair design will the “Design Details” that you choose to add to the solid geometry of the staircase. The styling of your handrail, newels and balusters will be critical to the finish feel that the stair portrays, and the inclusion of over-sized starting treads, descending volutes, bowed tread noses and other design details will help push it over the top.

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  • Amazing Stairs: The Miraculous Staircase of Loretto Chapel

    Spiral staircase at Loretto Chapel

    The Spiral Staircase at the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe New Mexico is truly an Amazing Stair. The stair winds approximately 760 degrees total, more than two full turns, and is made of Spruce; it ascends a total of 22 ft. from floor to floors.

    The joinery used on the treads, risers, stringers, and even the stair backing and subsequent plaster, all work together to create a “torsion box” effect, giving the stair some rigidity; however, its main source of support is from the tight radius of the inside “boxed stringer” which has a “stringer leg” attached below the start of the stair which gives the first 180 degrees direct support from the floor. The stair originally shook quite a bit when walked on and two iron brackets were added to stabilize the stair between the wall and a support column.

    Although experienced staircase engineers and designers would agree that the stair is short of miraculous and could be replicated, it is a beautiful design and a great example of master craftsmanship from the time period.

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  • Amazing Staircases: Gone with the Wind — The Bridal Curved Staircase

    Gone With the Wind - Bridal Staircase

    The 1939 film Gone With The Wind features four beautiful staircases that have come to define the elegance, grace and grandeur of interior stair design.

    The most amazing staircase in the film is without question the massive central staircase within the Twelve Oaks Plantation. This is the stair that most people refer to as the Gone With The Wind “Bridal Curved Stair”.

    The staircase begins at the first floor with a bowed starting tread approximately 20 ft. wide featuring circle ends with descending volute rail terminations directly above. The lower section of the stair is a “flared” design with curves on both sides that allow the stair to narrow as you ascend the first 12 treads to the intermediate landing. At the landing, the stair divides into two 90 degree curved sections that ascend another 20 treads to the second floor. The handrail is a Victorian design approx. 7″ wide, possibly made from Walnut, and the balusters are square top and bottom, approx. 2 1/2″ wide with alternating spiral cut turnings.

    The overall stair design is essentially three different staircases all perfectly joined at the central landing. The handrail winds uninterrupted from the top to the bottom an estimated 50 ft. in length on either side. Most of the staircase is open underneath with fantastic panel work attached to the stair backs, and the exposed stringers are detailed with brackets featuring floral rosettes and carved appliqués in a painted finish.

    The entire staircase was built on a sound stage in Hollywood and torn down as soon as filming was completed. The staircase was designed by Lyle Wheeler who won an Academy Award for his design work on the 90 sets and 50 full size buildings used in the movie.

    See some examples of well designed curved staircases.

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  • Elements of a Well Designed Curved Staircase

    Curved stair with marble treads

    When you see a curved staircase that appears to have an elegant flow and breathtaking presence, I can guarantee you that didn’t happen by chance. The elements of a well designed curved staircase are contained in a number of mathematical principles that a good stair designer must adhere to.

    Unlike a standard staircase where all the tread noses are parallel within each stair section, a curved staircase is at least partially designed with a number of “pie shaped” treads, with the tread noses running toward a common center point. The combination of “pie shaped” treads and standard treads within the same staircase will change the angle at which the stair ascends, and these angle changes can destroy the flow and overall appearance of the curved staircase. The design and attitude of the stair treads will dictate the final appearance of the stair’s handrail system positively or negatively. Just because a curved stair appears to “flow” on a plan-view drawing does NOT mean it will look good in the third dimension.

    The true keys to curved stair design are allowing for enough room for a proper design, then developing a design with geometrical consistency which will result in those fantastic 3D lines that become the soul of the home’s interior.

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  • Historic Restoration of a Curved Stair & Curved Stair Railing

    Curved rail restoration

    Designed Stairs was called in to assess and restore a 1874 black walnut curved stair and curved stair rail. Abraham J. Hoffman built the stately River Forest Young Ladies Seminary in River Forest, IL in 1874. The building had many uses before it fell into disrepair prior to the eventual restoration in 1994. Many parts of the 180 degree curved staircase had deteriorated beyond repair and we determined that a combination of reconstruction and restoration would be the best course of action.

    The existing staircase and hand rail system were carefully measured, drawn and photographed before being disassembled and transported to Designed Stairs shop. The stair stringers, treads and risers had to be completely rebuilt due to water and animal damage, while the large walnut starting newel was able to be repaired. The handrail had been carved from solid black walnut stock and consisted of four sections bolted together end to end. The horizontal rail from the second floor was missing, along with many of the balusters. We carefully disassembled the four sections of rail. Each section was then scraped and sanded to remove the old varnish and prep the wood for a new finish.

    Curved rail restoration horizontal

    It was noted that the original craftsman had written the job name as “Abraham Hoffman” on the rail ends that had been bolted together. The inscription was documented and noted to the Museum staff.

    New bolts were placed and the rail reassembled and finish sanded. Several new black walnut balusters were made to match the existing originals and the horizontal 2nd floor rail and fitting were hand made to match the original stair rail. The new staircase was installed at the site and the rail system replaced in the exact position that it was originally set in 1874.

    The Trail Side Museum in Forest Park is open to the public — stop in and take a look. [Map]

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  • Amazing Stairs: The Nathanial Russell House

    The Nathanial Russell House (1808) in historic Charleston, SC features two of the most noted curved staircases in the world. The two curved staircases are “freestanding” (no supporting walls beneath the stairs) and rise from the first floor to the 3rd floor in a counter-clockwise direction offering a continuous handrail on the left hand side as you ascend.

    The stair construction is notable in that there are no structural stringers (main support members) used. Each tread and riser section are fastened to a framed box made from Southern Yellow Pine, and each box is offset (cantilevered) and bolted to the box beneath it; the top and bottom box are bolted to the floor. Beneath the joined frame boxes, another curved frame member is attached so that there is a place to attach the lath and plaster to the backside of the stair. The sides of this framing were then covered with plaster and painted to resemble stringers.

    Restoration work was undertaken in 1955 and the staircases had sagged up to 4″ in the centers. The plaster backing was removed in an attempt to tighten up the framing, but both stairs ended up being bolted into the walls via metal brackets to hold them up.

    The handrail is also a curiosity to modern stair designers as the sides of the rail are made from a bendable trim piece and the top is cut from many short sections that are pieced together to create the curve. The design is elliptical in nature and not built to a radius.

    The finished line of these stairs is evidence of near perfect geometry and the flow is one of the best I have seen. In spite of the unusual construction, these truly are amazing stairs.

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  • 3 Design Pitfalls of Curved Stairs

    Curved stair design pitfalls

    When you are designing a curved staircase, knowing what NOT to do can be just as important as knowing what TO do. Here are some pitfalls that you will want to avoid.

    1. Adding a curved staircase into your home design as an afterthought. As strange as this may sound, the best curved staircases result when the areas around the staircase were actually “built around the stair”.

    2. Believing that if the stair looks good on the plan view, it will look good when it is built. There are many elements of a curved stair design that can negatively impact the final lines. A stair that is not completely designed from start to finish will almost always result in a detail that is an unpleasant surprise.

    3. Not consulting an experienced stair designer-builder at the earliest stages of the design. Taking a very small amount of time to consult will allow you to double check the features that you want to end up with and possibly avoid expenses and disappointment. If you are the homeowner, encourage your Architect/Designer to have the curved stair design reviewed; If you are the Architect, being able to tell your client that you have already taken this step will impress them.

    See some examples of well designed curved staircases.

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  • Amazing Stairs: Titanic — Grand Staircase

    Titanic - Grande Staircase

    The RMS Titanic’s “Grande Staircase” refers to a series of six custom staircases designed for use by the ship’s First Class Passengers.

    The most ornate staircase was the curved stair from the Promonade deck up to the First Class Lounge on the Boat Deck which was lit during the day by a 20 ft. diameter dome of milk glass and wrought iron. This “T” shaped staircase was fabricated from English White Oak and featured classic William And Mary woodwork and inset Louis XIV iron panels.

    The staircase began with a bowed double quarter circle starting tread that was approx. 20 ft. across. The stringers and rails on either side were curved, or “flared” to allow the stair width to shrink to 10 ft. at the intermediate landing. There was a 16″ carved newel/pedestal directly in the center of the start of the stair with a bronze statue of a cherub holding an electric light fixture above it’s head. A center handrail and balustrade ascended 11 treads from this center newel, allowing passengers to use either the left or the right side of the staircase. At the intermediate landing, another six treads lead either 90 degrees to the left or to the right.

    The extent of handcarved detail and ornamental iron work coupled with the massive size of the components the five story layout makes this one of the world’s most amazing stairs. Athough these stairs were destroyed during the sinking of the Titanic, identical balustrade sections from the sister ship, The Olympic, were salvaged and are in use at the White Swan Hotel in England.

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