New Delhi:(Our Reporter)Those were the days when veteran film maker BR Chopra was alive and making films, a colleague visited his South Mumbai’s mansion for an interview. Later, he discussed two things of Chopra’s grand abode several times. A. Huge drawing room. B. The spacious staircase with breathtaking paintings that adorned on the walls. More than drawing room, he was impressed with the neat and wonderful staircases.

And far away from those staircases of Chopra’s mansion, all of us have seen small and dark staircases in old homes and buildings. It is really tough call to climb them. Architects say that the best staircases are those in which the difference between thread riser is not much. Apart from that,two people can climb it at one go. Talking about staircases in buildings,one can really marvel the spacious staircases in Delhi bases building of Indian Institute off Planning Administration.

The staircase used to be the most neglected aspect until recently. As the décor aspects gaining attention now, and defined spaces getting all the focus, it is the sought-after area for designers to show their talent. in, or cutting into an already congested living area.

These staircases should be enclosed, and at least one of them should be on the exterior walls of the building and should open directly to the exterior or interior open space or to an open space of safety. The staircases need to be constructed of brick or reinforced concrete with a minimum of two-hour fire rating. Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed,CMD of ILD group,says that now no builder or architect afford to ignore the importance of staircses. They give tremendous amount of focus so that users donot find any difficulty in climbing up or down.

Dr.Najma Rizvi, who used teach at School of Planning and Architecture, is of the opinion that both architects and builders should not underestimate a staircase. It should not be considered as another connectivity to the upper floors. ” One must keep in mind the fact that it has structural value just as it can be made to ooze aesthetic significance. It connects, it divides, and makes way for movement to other floors above, so workmanship, placement and decorative elements that could make it look like a centrepiece,” she says.

” We do not consider staircase as the only safe means of escape during fire emergencies. Lifts and escalators are not considered as exits. Hence, all the well-known realty firms give lot of importance to staircases when they plan some high rise,” informs Sunil Jindal,CEO of SVP group.

If we talk about norms, all high-rises must have a minimum of two staircases, each at a remote distance from the other. The minimum width of these staircases will be based on the type of the building.

Residential buildings (dwellings) – 1.6 metres

(For row housing with two storeys, the minimum width shall be 0.75 metres)

Residential hotel buildings – 1.5 metres

Assembly buildings like auditoria, theatres, and cinemas – 2 metres

Educational buildings – 1.5 metres

Institutional buildings – 2 metres

All other buildings – 1.5 metres

The staircases also need to be ventilated. If this is not possible for some reason, then it has to be pressurised. They also need to be enclosed with smoke-stop swing doors on the exit to the lobby. These doors need to have at least a two-hour fire resistance to prevent smoke and fire from entering the staircases, and vice versa. To prevent the entry of fire and smoke, extension of the staircase to the basement is prohibited. A separate staircase, not connected to the main staircase, should connect the basement to the upper floors.

Architects says that there can be straight-run staircases, quarter-turn staircases, three-quarters turn staircases, double return staircases, winding, circular and spiral stairs, elliptical stairs and the geometrical staircases.

Interestingly, although staircases are considered integral to one’s living, most people are not aware of the basic structure or components that make up a staircase.

Explaining the several design factors that are being looked as being a trend, experts explain that “concealing staircases is history. The structural elements are designed to reveal.

As far as the material is concerned, concrete staircases is now being replaced by the transparency of glass and the sleekness of steel. Steel, glass and wood are progressively being used for staircases.

The exterior staircases of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Parliament House in New Delhi are made of sandstone.

Talking about staircases in buildings,one can really marvel the spacious staircases in Delhi bases building of Indian Institute off Planning Administration. That shows that even earlier some architects were designing better and bigger staircases. However,this is not true of most the buildings even in Connaught Place area. While the buildings look grand,the staircases are not up to the mark. They are small and dirty in most of the cases. Agress Sanjay Khanna,Director of Kailashnath Khanna Projects Pvt Ltd, ” It is a fact that as recently as couple of years ago, nobody used to give much importance to staircases. It was a neglected area. But, now things have changed. You can not survive in the market if you do not take care of staircases.”

Added By : Our Reporter