William Foster and Greg Lomas describe how their backgrounds in collaborative crafts influence Foster Lomas’s stair designs.

Originally published in Architect’s Journal: Before co-founding Foster Lomas in 2005, William Foster worked for renowned West Country Blacksmith James Horrobin, while Greg Lomas has a background in production, furniture and lighting design; working as a lighting design at Speirs + Major before joining Habitat as a freelance designer for three years. In this month’s In Practice they discuss their design process and recall some of the studio’s key staircase projects.

Craft & Collaboration 

Our interest in craft goes back to our respective roots. We both had a rural upbringing, surrounded by makers ranging from Blacksmiths and Metalworkers to Potters, Weavers and Wood Turners. As a result making and collaborating is the essence of our design ethos and from the conception of our practice we’ve developed a synergy with other fabricators. On our first realized commission, Thomas House (2004) we collaborated with former mentor, Blacksmith and artisan Metalworker Jim Horrobin of Doverhay Forge Studios to create a textured steel monoslab fireplace. We were interested in making as a legacy and creating designs with longevity. The house’s fireslab was a sculptural piece of furniture, integrated within the architecture and a product of craft with an inherent richness and vitality embedded by the hands that made it.

Narrative & Concept 

We see staircases not just as a way of getting from one floor to another, but as an experimental journey through the three-dimensional transformative qualities of a space. In some ways there is a playful naivety to being on a stair and we understand it as an opportunity to create something expressive in existing constraints. The Riverside Penthouse (2014) staircase aimed to capture this idea of playfulness; we designed a helical, ribbon-like structure – unfurling down from a hanging pod and floating in a double height space. The curved form of the room and accompanying staircase was initially developed from the geometry of the original building, designed by Foster + Partners. Further design was informed by the block’s proximity to the River Thames; the leather treads of the steps, upholstery to the pod, polished timber and brass detailing were all inspired by Riva’s classic 1950’s motor boat designs. Working closely with Webb Yates Engineers and bespoke makers TinTab the monocoque-structure ended up having more in common with boat design than initially intended. The whole assembly with just a laser-cut veneered steel helical column supporting the staircase was suspended on 12 brass tension rods from the roof of the apartment. The separate elements were designed to fit into a single domestic lift to assist its installation.

Making & Technology

We collaborate with engineers and artisans from a range of industries and disciplines. Getting the team right, ensuring correct expertise and a cross-section of ideas is important. We typically set a brief for others who work closely with us to develop innovative solutions drawing on a rage of knowledge and experience. It’s a creative partnership and the key to its success is experimentation, testing ideas and detailing, exploring alternative materials and selecting quality finishes. However technology doesn’t and shouldn’t usurp craft. To us technology is a friendly tool that allows for more efficient collaboration and faster communication. For our A&J House (2009) a refurbishment of a large Victorian detached house in London, the balustrade was again design in collaboration with our previous mentor Jim Horrobin. Horrobin combined laser and plasma cutting techniques with traditional forging to create an organic artwork inspired by the building’s original exterior detailing. To complement the balustrade a bespoke tilted uplight was developed with Mike Stoane Lighting which is now generally available within their range. The uplights were recessed into the stair treads and landings, casting shadows through the metalwork across the stairwell space.

Materiality vs. Technology

Because a staircase encourages interaction, its tactility and acoustics become important details. Considering how the treads feel proportionally and underfoot, how the staircase is lit, the structure and its overall character within the space are all important features and open up additional opportunities for craftsmanship. At our Retreat for Sartfell, a mountainside house in the Isle of Man which was completed last year, we aimed to bind the building’s programme together with a triple-height mesh staircase. Part of a growing number of commissions exploring the relationship between landscape and self-sustaining architecture, the project sits in a restored landscape and will be joined by a visitor’s centre and artist’s studio over the coming years. The house is essentially an extension to a Victorian cottage – known locally as ‘Cloud 9’ on account of its white render – and provides a private library among many other things. The staircase and library placed at the centre of the scheme were topped with a clerestory framing a study and capturing shards pf shifting light to animate the stark concrete interior. The stair’s orientation aligns with views to Sartfell mountain as well as overlooking the valley below. The floors of the staircase and landings are made from off-the-shelf perforated steel sheets specified to be dog-friendly to save the feet of the client’s pets. They were a collaborative effort between the structural engineers Conisbee and Somerset-based master boatbuilder John Hesp. The frequency of holes in the steel sheet set out the width of the structure and was coordinated with the height of risers to create the illusion that the piece was bent from a continuous surface. Hesp tested the balancing of the staircase’s weight in an effort to achieve both the right strength and aesthetics. The whole assembly was modularly fabricated offsite by West Country Blacksmiths, who assisted in completing the final detailing through the construction of full-scale samples.

Building Regulations 

We always test our ideas with Building Control form a very early stage in the project. This ensures we have an agreed solution before staring detailed design and prevents disappointment. Complying with Building Regulations can clearly affect the design and layout of a project, particularly with open-plan stair design, resulting in many of our schemes using fire curtains, fire-rated glass, sprinklers and secondary means of escape. At our Morocco Store residential project, and open-plan statement stair and screen, designed with Webb Yates, linked all three floors of the apartment. Due to considerations of fire safety this was achievable only be providing a secondary means of escape at every storey. The delicate brass screen running vertically had to  withstand a barrier loading without deforming which led us to select brass-patinated steel as an alternative to the originally specified material.

Fran Williams, Deputy Architecture Editor at Architect’s Journal

Model Photo: Jay Clark

Site Photo: Michael Franke