Basement Stairs
We have not heard from the builder so we are still in the wilderness in terms of having a start date for the next phase. However, the weather is so cold at the moment that :
- It probably explains why we have not heard from him - other jobs delayed
- We don't want block laying to be going on now anyway.
So we are happy to wait.
To idle away a few minutes we have been thinking about the stairs to the basement. As you may remember, the current plans effectively take a slice of our new lounge in order to have some stairs to give internal access down to the new basement room. On the plans they look like this (viewed from the first floor, stairs going down) :
This takes quite a slice out of the room. As planned, these stairs are completely enclosed, with a fire door at the bottom. We don't quite understand why this is necessary as there seem to be plenty of houses around with open plan stairs, but we were told it was to meet fire regulations. Why this should be, when the basement room has it's own access to the outside, I do not know. Anyway, you may remember from a blog entry many months ago, that we thought we might consider a spiral staircase. Looking on the wonderful internet we find there are plenty available, in all sorts of styles, sizes and materials. Just having a play with the plans, I came up with the following ways we might implement a spiral.
Firstly, there is the straight replacement of the planned stairs with a spiral :
This still occupies a fair proportion of the rooms (both in the lounge and basement), but also makes a bold statement as a feature. There is some danger that it might divide the room in two though.
The other options is to swap the door and staircase and move the spiral into the corner :
This is the most space efficient, but is it a shame to hide a bold piece of architecture in a corner ?
I would be interested in any thoughts any of my readers have. Please comment if you have a view, or if you have any alternative suggestions that we should consider. I would also be interested to hear from anybody who knows anything about these fire regulations, as it may be that none of these alternatives are possible.
posted by shadaswell @ 9:23 pm
4 comments
4 Comments:
My 2 cents: slightly confused as the doors appear to be in the wrong places on options 1 & 3?
Personally, if you're going to have a spiral, go for option 3 (spiral in the corner).....maximise the space and still have room for the Isobariks!
Another point, isn't the conservatory on a higher level than the patio? in which case don't the conservatory doors to the patio open onto a ten-foot drop? I was never very good at 3D visualisation!!
See you in two weeks!
Number 3 is our favourite too. Not sure I understand your comment about the doors - they don't exist yet, so we can put them where we like !
As for the conservatory, the idea is that the doors open onto the first floor patio, above the arches. See the "rear elevation" at http://www.shadbolt.uk.net/Extension/DetailedPlans/Plans.html
Steve,
Point worth considering is that the path from patio door to stairs will be a well worn one (Children running upstairs in hob nail boots, from patio to loo, garden, front door). You may benefit from having the stairs exit close to the patio door. For this reason the straight staircase may be better. It also gives you an interesting alcove underneath or storage space. You can also put a false ceiling above the staircase and have a large cupboard from the upstairs living room.
Regards
Colin Eglin
Thanks for the feedback Colin. I take your point about the through route - I can see the muddy footprints on the carpet now ! Not sure it's enough to take away the idea of a spiral though !
We have mixed feelings about the storage thing. We had lots of cupboards in our old house and it was a mixed blessing. They tended to become over-full of stuff that we never looked at or used. Out of sight, out of mind, and still nowhere to put anything. At least if you see something on a daily basis you are minded to think about whether it is really necessary. That's my excuse for living in a tip !
Cheers,
Steve.
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