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Apartment Therapy has a great write up on this clever staircase turned bookshelves, one for the remake list! -
The flat occupies part of the shared top floor of an existing Victorian mansion block. Our proposal extended the flat into the unused loft space above, creating a new bedroom level and increasing the floor area of the flat by approximately one third. We created a 'secret' staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client's desire for a library to form a 'library staircase' in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books. With a skylight above lighting the staircase, it becomes the perfect place to stop and browse a tome. The stair structure was designed as an upside down 'sedan chair' structure (with Rodrigues Associates, Structural Engineers, London) that carries the whole weight of the stair and books back to the main structural walls of the building. It dangles from the upper floor thereby avoiding any complicated neighbour issues with the floors below.Bookcase staircase - [via] Link.
Wow! That is a really cool idea! I love it!
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The angle makes it not so clear--this is looking DOWN from the top to the bottom. Not from the bottom looking into the top.
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How many code violations can we see in this picture.
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@Bob The Builder - this isn't Code: Violations, we don't have. it's MAKE :)
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God this is awful, I'd end up kicking the living stuffing out of those books. I'm just not that light on my feet. Walls, sure. Stairs, no thanks.
Also, aside from the roof lights (which would obviously only work during the day) what's the lighting situation? Kinda hard to read with no lights.
And I'd have to agree with Bob the Builder as well.
This would be why not everyone can be a designer. Yikes.
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I agree with you Captain Obvious, that is a really confusing picture. I was wondering why they made the spines of the books a surface to step on, and why the books were stacked so that you could only get to the ones on top easily... Neat idea though.
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If you follow the link, there are other photos, if you're truly confused by this one.
It was designed by structural engineers in London - I assume they know their building codes. They're used to working with smaller spaces over there, and I think it's both a beautiful design and a great solution for the space. I have way more books than I have space for, I'd love something like this!
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Interesting design, sure, but I agree that you'd be sticking your toe into the spine of those books way too often.. Plus if you figure a 7" rise height and at least 1" needed for structural support of the step there aren't really that many books that you can actually fit in that unless you put them flat instead of standing up. It might work for CD's, but if you are really this cramped for space there are a lot better ways to store CD's.
The best stair repurposing I have seen involves putting drawers into the steps.
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Pretty clever, It almost makes you want to sit on the stairs for a while...
The only complaints I have is that it's way too narrow and way too steep. The funky, alternating shape of the treads would lead me to trip, I'd think. I understand the dimensions of the staircase and treads was dictated by the available space... but that weird shape just blows my mind.
I'd try this project... but I once saw a staircase that rises to reveal a storage space underneath. The whole staircase lifts like the hatch on the back of a station wagon. That's what I wanna try.
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