Interior design studio Deferrari+Modesti renovated a house in Prato, Italy, adding a blue staircase that doubles as a climbing wall for its sporty owners.
The two-storey house in the Tuscany region, which was built in the 1980s, was in a state of disuse and required a complete refurbishment.

Deferrari + Modesti designed an integrated furnishing system to update the ground floor, which houses living areas and bedrooms.
The playful staircase that connects the lower and upper storeys of the villa is a reference to the occupant's love of rock climbing.

"The client had not given us specific indications or made particular requests on the staircase," architects Javier Deferrari and Lavinia Modesti told Dezeen.

"For us, however, it had to be a key element of the home. It had to connect the different spaces by organising them, but it also had to have a strong identity, both in its representation and in its function." Made from teak wood and powder-coated iron, the staircase is sided with perforated sheet metal, which has also been used for its upper steps.

"The staircase, from being extremely solid, becomes permeable to light and movement as it ascends," the studio explained.
A metal bench and a wooden storage box sit under the stairs facing the living room. The staircase's open structure here creates an improvised climbing wall where people can dangle from its iron bars.

The ground-floor living areas are spread over three different levels. Deferra...