Inspiration for a traditional tile u-shaped staircase in Chicago with wood risers and wood railing.

Aesthetic Value: Client required an upscale classical European look with minimalist features. Spiral became dramatic feature in customers home office. Stair Safety: All the local municipal codes were followed and met. Quality of Workmanship: Twelve sided mortised center column with minimalist engineered outside sawtooth stringer which is a very rare type of spiral stair. Technical Challenge: It was the owners lack of vision at beginning of project that challenged us to make numerous aesthetic suggestions and mock ups until owner finally feel in love with the sawtooth spiral with 12-sided column design.

We love to be creative and this project in Park City, Utah encompasses that quality! While this stair layout is typical, the guardrail and newel posts are anything but. The guardrail infill is made up of individual baluster grids, milled from Clear Alder. The handrail is steel and the custom newel posts are a combination of both Alder and steel. Each newel post is actually five posts in one. Starting with the 5 smaller vertical Alder posts we then mortised steel square bar horizontals between them. The base and caps are steel, in between which the smaller posts were sandwiched. After the steel base was bolted down to the floor the parts were assembled like a puzzle with a length of all-thread passing up through the base, center post, and cap to cinch the whole assembly together. It makes for one strong post! The skirts, risers, and aprons are Knotty Alder with solid White Oak treads, bull-nosed shoe plate and cove. All the steel components received a powder-coat finish.

Large traditional wood u-shaped staircase in New York with wood risers and wood railing.

Alise O'Brien Photography
Traditional wood curved staircase in St Louis with wood risers and mixed railing.

Traditional wood l-shaped staircase in Richmond with wood risers and wood railing.

Dramatic staircase backed by two-story curved white paneled wall, quartered white oak stair treads with iron spindles and carpet runner, wood handrail, and concealed LED lighting in skirt board to illuminate steps. This is so incredible in person! Photo by Paul Bonnichsen.

Scott Pease Photography
Inspiration for a traditional wood u-shaped staircase in Cleveland with wood risers and wood railing.

David Butler
Photo of a large traditional wood straight staircase in London with wood risers.

Mid-sized traditional wood straight staircase in San Francisco with wood risers and wood railing.

This house was a big renovation project from an almost derelict building. We were asked to create this large oak Georgian inspired staircase and entrance hall. The brief was to create a staircase and hall with the architectural joinery details such as the doors,architraves, surrounds, panelling and staircase were to look like original elements of this country house.

Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional wood curved staircase in Chicago with wood risers.

Outdoor staircase is illuminated with diamond pattern basket balusters. Providing a safety and a pretty view of the stairs
Inspiration for a mid-sized traditional wood l-shaped staircase in Denver with wood risers.

Resting upon a 120-acre rural hillside, this 17,500 square-foot residence has unencumbered mountain views to the east, south and west. The exterior design palette for the public side is a more formal Tudor style of architecture, including intricate brick detailing; while the materials for the private side tend toward a more casual mountain-home style of architecture with a natural stone base and hand-cut wood siding. Primary living spaces and the master bedroom suite, are located on the main level, with guest accommodations on the upper floor of the main house and upper floor of the garage. The interior material palette was carefully chosen to match the stunning collection of antique furniture and artifacts, gathered from around the country. From the elegant kitchen to the cozy screened porch, this residence captures the beauty of the White Mountains and embodies classic New Hampshire living. Photographer: Joseph St. Pierre

Architect: Peter Zimmerman, Peter Zimmerman Architects Interior Designer: Allison Forbes, Forbes Design Consultants Photographer: Tom Crane
Design ideas for a large traditional marble curved staircase in Philadelphia with wood risers and metal railing.

Entry hall with panted newel posts and balusters, oak flooring and stair treads, mahogany handrail. Pete Weigley
This is an example of an expansive traditional wood u-shaped staircase in New York with wood risers and wood railing.

Photo of a traditional wood u-shaped staircase in Chicago with wood risers.

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

Adrián Gregorutti
Photo of a traditional wood l-shaped staircase in San Francisco with wood risers.