Residence, Nantucket [US]

EeStairs + Workshop/APD Architecture DPC

These beautiful stairs have three super-precise helical twists.

The geometry of the multi-level helical staircase in this home on the US island of Nantucket in Massachusetts posed an unusual challenge to our whole stair creation process—from our design support to our installation—because the sinuous architectural quality of the staircase required three different helical elements to align perfectly.

The geometry of the curving radii of the steps and risers, the inner balustrades, and the outer balustrades was created and installed with the greatest care so that the lines of their top edges were parallel in plan and elevation. And the use of our EeSoffit™ system produced perfectly smooth surfaces, ensuring that the design by Workshop/APD came to life elegantly.

This degree of accuracy was of critical importance because the contrasting materials involved would have emphasised any imperfections of surface or line. The oak-capped treads and solid white oak risers meet the inner oak-veneered steel balustrade seamlessly, and the outer white-painted steel balustrades are enclosed or extended with curved and straight glass sections at the landings. The precision of these different layers of geometry is unmistakable.