Commercial offices - Fitzrovia, London

Zakuna were delighted to be involved with the design, supply and fit of this stunning 6 flight staircase at these commercial premises in London, for a prestigious law firm.

Working with the main contractor, the fire rated stairway needed to be compliant, functional and practical, yet contemporary and luxurious.

As the premises was a listed building, there were restrictions on fixing points and challenges from the walls being originally built slightly out of square. Two of the lower floors were underground which involved consulting with a waterproofing specialist for fixings to the outer walls.

The complex design required a perfectly plumb continuous vertical central glazed screen throughout the height of the building, which meant we had to ensure all the dimensional discrepancies throughout, were taking into account at the design stage.

Further constraints, such as the position of the lifts, required us to be creative in our design to provide sufficient space to comply with current building regulations. The top floor has a mansard roof, typical of many older London buildings. The protruding steelwork within the roof was a particular challenge, to maintain the necessary head height around the stairwell, within the design.

The staircase design includes closed steel risers, 180 degree landings, winders and a central 'Crittall style' bespoke glazed screen. Steel substrates and fire rated plasterboard were incorporated to the underside of the stairway for compliancy.

The bespoke design includes 40mm thickness, deep Oak treads, perfectly colour matched to the Oak flooring of the premises. The intricate design to each tread was CNC routered and inlayed with three brass bars to add a luxurious feel, whilst also providing anti-slip protection for the high traffic stairway.

The steel risers, framework for the central glazed screen and the steel substrate on the underlying face of the stairwell where all colour matched to complement the  doors within the premises.

The steel wall mounted handrails were finished in a bespoke brass finish: RAL 1026, to match the anti-slip brass bars in the treads.