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PAGE HEADING INTERIORS


FINE-TUNING THE DESIGN With each staircase layout, there is significant scope to tailor the design to ensure it works well within your home and meets your practical requirements. These include adjusting the width of the treads to provide more space for occupants to pass one another if needed. In most cases, you should plan


for a clear tread width of around 800 mm as a minimum in line with building regulations. For staircases serving a single habitable room (such as a loft conversion) it may be possible to reduce this to 600 mm. To ensure the staircase is safe and easy to walk up, it is recommended that the maximum pitch for straight stairs is 42 degrees. For spiral and helical staircases, the total measurement of two rises (step- up between treads) plus 1 going (tread depth) should generally be between 550 and 700 mm and should be identical all the way up. Spindles, treads, and handrails can all be selected in a range of profiles and designs, providing the balustrade height is at least 900 mm and no gaps are large enough to allow a 100 mm sphere to pass through. With a bespoke staircase, there is also a huge range of design options to add a personal touch to your chosen style. For materials, you can choose conventional timbers, a combination of timber and metalwork with integrated metal supports and balustrades, or go for a full metalwork staircase manufactured from a material like cast aluminium. This can add a more traditional or contemporary feel, depending on the design you choose.


The right staircase can really transform and elevate a home. By working with a bespoke manufacturer or joiner, you can ensure the finished staircase not only works within your home’s layout and usage but stands as a piece of personal design in its own right.


Richard Harding is the director of British Spirals & Castings


Wykamol launches ultra-thin ISO-THERM retrofi t insulation


Wykamol has launched an innovative, patented textile-based thermal wall insulation which is ideal for creating dry and warm walls, primarily in retrofi t situations, with the potential to save energy and protect properties from penetrating damp. ISO-THERM is an ultra-thin – approximately 4 mm thick – specially woven polyester-based material which, due to its fl exibility and ease of use, can quickly be cut around light switches, sockets, radiator brackets, architraves, skirting boards and even complex shaped decorative mouldings. This therefore avoids the disruption and cost of employing additional trades such as electricians, plumbers or carpenters. The ISO-THERM membrane is secured to the brick or block substrate with Wykamol’s unique ISO-THERM Adhesive, applied at a thickness of approximately 5 mm using a notched trowel. The ISO-THERM is then simply rolled into the glue before receiving a plaster skim coat, affording an overall fi nish of approximately 10 mm. The ISO-THERM material is both waterproof and vapour permeable and therefore does not support the growth of surface mould, instead allowing the wall to breathe.


01282 473 100 www.wykamol.com ADF03_Wykamol_Interiors - Walls_DPR.indd 1 28/02/2024 08:51


FIREFLY®


Zeus Horizontal Barriers protect East Midlands offi ce’s stair cores High performance but lightweight fi re barriers from the range of FIREFLY®


have been specifi ed by one of


the manufacturer’s Preferred Installers, to upgrade the fi re protection within the stair cores to a large offi ce property in the East Midlands continuing a burgeoning business relationship between the two specialists. The work on the two-storey commercial property, which dates from the 1990s, has been carried out by Coventry based KRASI Fire Protection using the FIREFLY®


Zeus Horizontal 60:30 barrier, with FIREFLY’s Technical


Manager for the region attending site to offer design guidance, as well as during the contract period. The improvements were confi ned to the fi rst-fl oor ceiling voids above each of the building’s four staircases, but will help ensure escape routes are maintained in the event of any future emergency. FIREFLY®


Zeus


Horizontal is a lightweight fl exible fi re barrier designed to provide fi re compartmentation of larger concealed spaces and voids within buildings, offering 60 minutes integrity and 30 minutes insulation. It has been specifi cally developed and tested for horizontal installation, including fi tting around service penetrations.


01706 758817 www.tbafi refl y.com ADF02_TBA / Firefly_Safety & Security - Smoke & Fire Protection_DPR.indd 1 WWW.BUILDINGCONSTRUCTIONDESIGN.CO.UK Feature_Stairs & Staircases_British Spirals & Castings.indd 3 15/03/2024 14:03 24/01/2024 09:13


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