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Article from issue 2/2000 »Stairs«

Apartment in New York

documentation p. 205 - 209
Architect Hotson, David | Lin, Maya | Structural Engineer Friedmann Structural Engineering |

Drafts
Horizontal section through stairs 1:10
Longitudinal section 1:200
Plan of staircase 1:100
Plans 1:200
Vertical section through stairs 1:10

The large living area of this two-storey apartment lies half a floor below street level. An important aspect of the design, therefore, was the ingress of sunlight. The volume of the central staircase, a bold space-defining element that divides the living room from the kitchen, is reduced to a minimum, like that of the other constructional units. The stairs and landings are supported by steel plates braced by steel flats. The dividing wall between the two flights of stairs – in steel on the kitchen face and in maple on the living room face – is isolated from the stairs by a narrow space. The top landing is similarly set back from the two-storey etched and rear-lighted glass partition, with the result that light is able to flow round the various discrete elements.