ᐅ How deep should a stair landing be? How should it be designed?
Created on: 14 Aug 2016 10:38
M
Maria16Good morning!
We are in the middle of planning our single-family house and have a problem with our staircase.
The architect recommended a switchback staircase with a landing to ensure sufficient headroom from the first floor to the attic. She planned a landing with a depth of 1.05 m (3 feet 5 inches). There are 16 steps each with a rise/run of 18/26 cm (7/10 inches) from the ground floor to the first floor, and 17.4/26 cm (7/10 inches) from the first floor to the attic (structural heights of ground and first floors differ).
Of course, the staircase requires quite a bit of space, which we are “missing” in the hallway – currently, the bottom stair is flush with the wall. That makes the hallway width 1.38 m (4 feet 6 inches), but for aesthetic reasons, we would prefer around 1.5 m (5 feet). The hallway will be about 7 m (23 feet) long – and unfortunately, this can’t be changed :-(
So the question to everyone with a staircase landing: how deep is your landing? Is 1.05 m (3 feet 5 inches) necessary, or would 95 cm (3 feet 1 inch) be enough?
Or did you let the bottom step extend into the hallway and set back the adjoining walls a bit? How did you handle the visual effect – does it still look nice?
Another option would be to shorten the landing only slightly and reduce the tread depth to 25 cm (10 inches), but that doesn’t sound ideal to me either...
I would appreciate any suggestions and would love to see pictures as well!
We are in the middle of planning our single-family house and have a problem with our staircase.
The architect recommended a switchback staircase with a landing to ensure sufficient headroom from the first floor to the attic. She planned a landing with a depth of 1.05 m (3 feet 5 inches). There are 16 steps each with a rise/run of 18/26 cm (7/10 inches) from the ground floor to the first floor, and 17.4/26 cm (7/10 inches) from the first floor to the attic (structural heights of ground and first floors differ).
Of course, the staircase requires quite a bit of space, which we are “missing” in the hallway – currently, the bottom stair is flush with the wall. That makes the hallway width 1.38 m (4 feet 6 inches), but for aesthetic reasons, we would prefer around 1.5 m (5 feet). The hallway will be about 7 m (23 feet) long – and unfortunately, this can’t be changed :-(
So the question to everyone with a staircase landing: how deep is your landing? Is 1.05 m (3 feet 5 inches) necessary, or would 95 cm (3 feet 1 inch) be enough?
Or did you let the bottom step extend into the hallway and set back the adjoining walls a bit? How did you handle the visual effect – does it still look nice?
Another option would be to shorten the landing only slightly and reduce the tread depth to 25 cm (10 inches), but that doesn’t sound ideal to me either...
I would appreciate any suggestions and would love to see pictures as well!
I can refer you to this thread where kbt09 has written quite a lot about stairs. Maybe that will help you:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Meinung-zum-hausentwurf.15775/page-5#post-135203
Regarding the rest of the topic, I can’t say much since we don’t have a landing staircase. But I understand your point; I would also try to avoid making the hallway too narrow if it’s that long. Would a straight staircase be an option? Or maybe just a half-turn staircase?
Could you share the staircase or floor plan? Then it would definitely be easier to help and possibly identify more optimization potential.
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Meinung-zum-hausentwurf.15775/page-5#post-135203
Regarding the rest of the topic, I can’t say much since we don’t have a landing staircase. But I understand your point; I would also try to avoid making the hallway too narrow if it’s that long. Would a straight staircase be an option? Or maybe just a half-turn staircase?
Could you share the staircase or floor plan? Then it would definitely be easier to help and possibly identify more optimization potential.
For better understanding, here is the ground floor plan. Please focus on the staircase.
We are aware of the room dimensions and the number/function of rooms and are satisfied with the rest of the plot!
I would actually prefer a half-turn staircase (U-shaped) almost the most (I grew up with it and find it more comfortable out of habit than staircases with landings) – but then access to the attic is no longer possible because of the insufficient distance between the steps and the roof slope.
The attic is ultimately our challenge, as it should be accessible by more than one pull-down ladder in the future.
And yes, we are aware that with a total of four floors, the house is quite large; we have discussed this issue thoroughly.
The plan is oriented to the north; the street is on the south side, and we don’t want to have to walk around the house every time – so the main entrance on the north is out of the question, which limits many room layout options.
The ridge direction follows the official development plan, which requires a length ratio of 2:3 between the short and long sides of the house (we could deviate from this, as others already have, but it must not be too square).
A straight staircase is not an option for us because the basement access would then be on the opposite side, and in my opinion, an L-shaped staircase is ruled out due to our room design combined with the development plan requirements... the smallest "compromise" would be to adjust the staircase itself with only a 25cm (10 inches) tread and a landing of 90cm (35 inches), or to let the steps extend into the hallway...
We are aware of the room dimensions and the number/function of rooms and are satisfied with the rest of the plot!
I would actually prefer a half-turn staircase (U-shaped) almost the most (I grew up with it and find it more comfortable out of habit than staircases with landings) – but then access to the attic is no longer possible because of the insufficient distance between the steps and the roof slope.
The attic is ultimately our challenge, as it should be accessible by more than one pull-down ladder in the future.
And yes, we are aware that with a total of four floors, the house is quite large; we have discussed this issue thoroughly.
The plan is oriented to the north; the street is on the south side, and we don’t want to have to walk around the house every time – so the main entrance on the north is out of the question, which limits many room layout options.
The ridge direction follows the official development plan, which requires a length ratio of 2:3 between the short and long sides of the house (we could deviate from this, as others already have, but it must not be too square).
A straight staircase is not an option for us because the basement access would then be on the opposite side, and in my opinion, an L-shaped staircase is ruled out due to our room design combined with the development plan requirements... the smallest "compromise" would be to adjust the staircase itself with only a 25cm (10 inches) tread and a landing of 90cm (35 inches), or to let the steps extend into the hallway...
J
j.bautsch18 Aug 2016 11:24I like staircases with landings because they are easy to walk on (no narrowing steps). Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more about the landing except that you need to consider whether you can still easily maneuver bulky furniture around the corner if the landing is less deep.
There are stair showrooms—maybe you could simply ask there, or where I live there are studios where you can try out different stairs in person.
I also think the floor plan is good as it is (we are planning something similar, just without a basement and with a utility room instead of a pantry).
There are stair showrooms—maybe you could simply ask there, or where I live there are studios where you can try out different stairs in person.
I also think the floor plan is good as it is (we are planning something similar, just without a basement and with a utility room instead of a pantry).
Hello Maria
I have the last stair tread protruding into the hallway. But the hallway is over 200cm (79 inches) wide, so that doesn’t help you much.
Can’t you make the kitchen a little less deep (20cm (8 inches)) and turn the niche (on the left at the entrance) into a continuous space instead of a niche? That would definitely enlarge the hallway. The kitchen and the study would become smaller, but the hallway wouldn’t be such a narrow corridor anymore.
Steven
I have the last stair tread protruding into the hallway. But the hallway is over 200cm (79 inches) wide, so that doesn’t help you much.
Can’t you make the kitchen a little less deep (20cm (8 inches)) and turn the niche (on the left at the entrance) into a continuous space instead of a niche? That would definitely enlarge the hallway. The kitchen and the study would become smaller, but the hallway wouldn’t be such a narrow corridor anymore.
Steven
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