Staircase Prototype in Shoreditch, Architect, Office Building, Photos
Office Staircase Prototype in Shoreditch
Interior Architecture in East London, England – renewal design by ACME Architects
25 Oct 2017
Office Staircase Prototype
Design: ACME
Location: 2-6 New North Pl, Shoreditch, London EC2A 4HU, UK
ACME unveils staircase prototype in the London office

ACME has completed a staircase prototype combining modern methods of construction with an adaptive design approach, created to work with a minimum of intervention within any building. The massive timber stair was designed in 48 weeks, manufactured in four weeks and constructed in just five days, and has been installed in the architects? own office, leading from the ground to the first floor.
The existing building had no usable stair between floors. A hole was first cut into the first floor slab to create a connecting void. It became clear during demolition that the existing first floor concrete slabs had no further load capacity, necessitating a new approach to the stair design. Rather than relying on connections of the stair at its top and bottom, the stair is designed as a free-standing cantilever, with no connection to the floor above. In order to reduce its carbon footprint, and to provide enough counterweight for the cantilever, the stair is made from layers of cross-laminated timber, CNC cut in Switzerland. Each of the 20 steps is made from six timber elements. Once the interlocking pieces for one step are...