Why we draw the stairs first

A staircase is the one piece of a house you use twenty times a day and never think about. It decides where the light falls, where the doors go, and how the house feels on the way to bed. So on every project it is the first thing we draw.

Draw the stair first and the rest of the plan falls into place around it.

At Linden Yard the stair is a single folded plate of steel, painted white, with oak treads that match the floor. It runs along the one wall that gets the afternoon sun, and because it has no risers the light carries straight through it into the hall.

Getting the stair right early saves a surprising amount later: the landing sets the ceiling heights upstairs, and the space underneath became a pantry rather than a cupboard nobody opens.