The document discusses different types and components of staircases. It begins by defining what a staircase is and its functional requirements such as circulation, strength, safety, and ventilation. It then goes on to describe the various components of a staircase including treads, risers, stringers, handrails, and newel posts. The document discusses different types of staircases based on their shape, including straight, quarter turn, u-shaped, continuous and winder stairs. It also covers types based on material used like wooden, glass, metal, stone and concrete stairs. Design parameters for staircase planning such as headroom clearance, flight length, construction material and dimension of steps are outlined. Standards for riser height and tread depth are

1. -Guided By,
Ar. Sheetal Dhopte -Presented By,
Sneha Das

2. What are STAIRCASE ?
Staircase can be defined as “ a set of stairs and its surrounding walls
leading from one level to another mainly in buildings.”
*Excel can also be defined as a “staircase for all of us”…

3. Functional requirements for staircase
1. Circulation: Vertical circulation(movement) of users and
goods between stories of building.
2. Strength: Able to give support for movement (Dead and
Imposed load)
3. Material: Should be constructed of materials that are
capable of maintaining strength and stability for a
sufficient period of time for escaping.
4. Safety: Easy means of travel (escape) in case of fire
and earthquake.
5. Ventilation: It should have proper ventilation to avoid
suffocation.

4. “What we are going to learn today?”
1. Components of staircase
2. Standards for staircase designing
3. Types of staircase as per shape/function
4. Types of staircase as per material
5. Design parameters for staircase design

5. HEADROOM
FLIGHT
RISER
LANDING
TREAD
WAIST SLAB
STRINGER
BALUSTERADE
HANDRAIL
NEWEL POST
STAIR WELL
WINDER
NOSING
C
O
M
P
O
N
E
N
T
S
O
F
S
T
A
I
R
C
A
S
E
Hand Railing
Balustrade
Ceiling Ht
Newel
Post
Tread
(260-300mm)
Riser
(150-190mm)
Fligh
t
Nosing
Stringer
Waist slab
STAIRCASE
Landin
g
Slope /
Pitch

6. Standard: Headroom should not be less than 2.1 to
2.3 m (6.8’-7.5’).
HEADROOM
Headroom
2.1-2.3m
• It’s the minimum clear distance between the over head
structures (ceiling etc.) and tread which allows easy
passage of users even carrying some luggage on their
heads without any obstruction.

7. FLIGHT
"Flight of stairs" is an unbroken series of
steps between landings. A flight of stairs can also called
as a stairway.
Design Parameter: The flight of the stairs should be
restricted to a maximum of 12 and minimum of 3
steps.
Landing: : It’s the leveled platform having no tread and
risers between the top and bottom of a flight and is
situated between the floors. It facilitates change of
direction and provides opportunity for taking rest during
the use of stair.
Design Parameter: Landing length should not be less
than the length of the tread and should have easy and
open access to the doors attached to it.
Flight-1
Flight-2
Flight-3
Flight-4
LANDING
LANDING

8. RISER AND TREAD
(STEP)
Tread: The horizontal top portion of a step where foot
rests is known as tread.
Standard: The dimension ranges from 270mm (10.6”) for
residential buildings and factories to 300mm(11.8”) for
public buildings where large number of persons use the
staircase.
Riser: The vertical distance between two successive steps
is termed as riser.
Standard: The dimension of the riser ranges from 150mm
(6”) for public buildings to 190mm (7.4”) for residential
buildings and factories.
270-300
150-190
Calculation of Riser and Tread (per floor)
TREAD
RISER
No of Steps= Floor ht / riser ht
For ex:
No of steps(Risers)=?
Riser ht=between 150-190mm
Floor ht = 3000mm (9.8’)
No of steps (mm) =3000/150
=20 steps (nos.)
Note: Consider the level difference between two floors
(Ceiling Ht and thickness of floor slab)

9. Standards for staircase (as per IS code)
150
150
150

10. NOSING
• It’s the projection of the tread beyond the
riser face which is mostly used for
providing complete coverage for footing.
• It has a rounded finish to avoid sharp
edges and give finished aesthetic effect.
SCOTIA
• It’s the support provided under nosing for
improving elevation of steps and also
provides strength to the nosing. It may or
may not be present in a stair case.
Scotia
Nosing
Nosin
g

11. Waist Slab
Waist Slab
The thickness of the slant slab on which the steps are made is known as waist
slab. The steps of the staircase resting on waist-slab can be made of bricks or
concrete.
Line of Nosing: It’s the imaginary line which is parallel to the strings and
tangential to the nosing. It’s useful for getting a level for constructing hand rail.
String or Stringers: These are the sloping member which supports the steps
in a stair.
Pitch or Slope: It’s the angle made by the line of nosing or stringer with the
horizontal.

12. Handrail Members
HANDRAIL: A rail fixed to posts or a wall for people to hold on to for support is called
Handrail
Standard: Handrail should be provided with minimum ht of 0.9-1m (1000mm) from
center of tread
BALUSTER: It’s the vertical member made of wood or metal which support the hand rail.
Row of balusters is called balustrade.
NEWEL POST: It’s the vertical member placed at the ends of flights. It connects ends of
strings and hand rails.
Handrail Balustrade Newel Post

13. Types of Staircase
Types of Staircase
(As per there shapes and geometrical appearance)
1. Straight stair
2. Turning stair
3. Continuous stair
4. Winder stair
5. Curved stair

14. Types of Staircase
(As per there shapes and geometrical appearance)
• They are classified broadly as
A. Straight stair
B. Turning stair.
A. Straight Stair:
• It consists of single, double and triples flight
• Triple flight is occasionally seen.
• In case of single flight there is only one flight and two
landings.
• In case of double flight there are 3 landings and two
flights.
• The number of steps remains the same in each flight for
betterment and good looking purposes.
• It’s usually used when the height of floors is too high and
lots of space is free to construct stair case.
• This type may or may not have newel post. These steps
are easy to use.

15. Advantages of straight Stairs:
• Straight stairs tend to be the easiest to go up and down.
• It ensures better safety for workers and also for old people in residential
buildings.
• They are easiest to build.
• Straight stairs only need to be connected at the top and the bottom.
• It’s relatively easy to build railings and handrails for straight stairs along
with simpler measuring for railings.
Disadvantages of straight stairs:
• Straight stairs use a fair amount of linear space.
• Due to higher amount of space consumption, it sometimes decreases
overall efficiency of the building.
• Straight stairs do not offer this privacy barriers between the floors.
• A stair of 3.5 meters high requires a landing to break up the span which
will use up a lot more space and therefore these types of stairs are
seldom used in residential construction.
• Hence its application is restricted to more frequently in large
commercial buildings and workshops.

16. B. Turning Stair:
Turning stairs are basically divided into following categories:
1. Quarter turn/L-shaped stair
2. U- shaped stair
3. Bifurcated stair
Note: Both half turn and three quarter turn stairs are classified under U-shaped stair.
1) Quarter turn/ L-shaped stair:
• It has two flights, each flight makes right angle to each other.
• It may have a landing or winder at its change of direction of
flights.
• The L-shaped staircase having winders are classified under
winder type stair case.
• L-turn staircase is used when the distance between the floors
are less so that adequate height is not obtained for straight stair
to be provided.

17. Advantages of Quarter turn Stairs:
1. L Stairs are visually more interesting.
2. They provide a visual barrier between floors and add privacy.
3. These are safer than straight stairs as the central landing reduces the
number of treads one could fall in a given flight.
4. The landing provides a place to stop and rest during ascending operation.
5. They can be located in a corner of a room due to its natural appearance.
Disadvantages of Quarter turn Stairs:
1. A support is typically required for the landing in an L type stair.
2. Often this is built into the surrounding walls so it goes unnoticed.
3. Difficult move in and out large items where covered by walls.
4. Handrails for these types of stairs require more skill and planning to
construct.

18. 2) U Shaped staircase
a) Half turn Stair:
1. Dog-legged
2. Geometrical half turn
• Doglegged staircase are two straight flights running in opposite
direction, with no space between flights.
• The main advantages of a doglegged staircase are:
1. They allow an arrangement that occupies a shorter, though wider but
more compact.
2. The upper floor is not directly visible from the bottom hence provides
privacy.
Geometric Half TurnDog legged Staircase
Three Quarter turn
staircase

19. Advantages of U shaped Stairs:
1. They offer privacy to the users.
2. The landing(s) can offer a resting point part way up the stairs.
3. Better falling and accidental resistance.
4. No problem of transportation and carriage of goods provided the head room
does not restrict for doing so.
Disadvantages of U shaped Stairs:
1. Involvement of higher numbers of calculations and accuracy of leveling
followed by difficulty in centering and shuttering operation.
b) Three Quarter turn Stair:
1. It is used when there is less space for stair room but the height between the
floors is very high.
2. In between the two main flights running opposite to each other, there is
another small flight consisting of 3-4 steps is provided.
3. It reduces the pain of climbing the stairs.

20. 3) Bifurcated Stair:
1. This is a common stair used in public buildings like
auditoriums, colleges, schools, conference halls etc. at
their entrance hall.
2. The stair case has wider flight at the bottom and get
narrower at its two sides.
3. One turning is towards the left and other towards the right
at the landing.
4. These are easy to access and can be efficiently provided
at the end or one side of a building.
5. They look aesthetically good and better hazard proof
though they pose little difficulty in transporting goods
carried on the head due to lesser space.

21. C. Continuous Stair:
1. Continuous stair case is basically of three types i.e. circular, helical and spiral.
2. Lack a landing.
3. Spiral and Helical staircases are different.
4. In case of spiral stair, the stairs originates from one common axis throughout its height
5. In case of helical stair case; the stairs remain in helicoidally manner.
6. Spiral stair case is used as exit stair whereas the helical stair case is used for aesthetic purposes.
7. The construction of both the stairs especially helical stair is complicated and mainly constructed by
R.C.C or steel.
SPIRAL STAIRCASE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE HELICAL STAIRCASE

22. Advantages of Spiral Stairs:
1. Spiral stairs are compact.
2. Spiral stairs can be attractive and has major impact on the appearance of space.
3. The center pole and landing provide the structural support for the stairs, they do not need extra
support structures making installation easier.
Disadvantages of Spiral Stairs:
1. Spiral stairs are more difficult to navigate. Hence it is not allowed to be used as the primary access to
a full second floor of a home. (as per codes)
2. It is difficult to carry large items up spiral stairs.
3. Only one person can go up or down the stairs at the same time.
Circular staircase Spiral staircase Helical staircase
Continuous staircase

23. D) WINDER STAIRCASE
Advantages of Winder Stairs:
• The main advantage of winder stairs is that they reduce the number
of steps required the rest of the stair and to economize in space.
• They have more visual and aesthetic interest.
• Winder are usually used in domestic buildings.
• Their compactness has also made them attractive in sustainable
home designs.
Disadvantages of Winder Stairs:
• It can be hazardous as they only offer little foothold at the interior
corner.
• Not recommended for public building in the means of escape
staircase specially for children and old people.
• It can be more difficult to add a handrail to winders.
Winder staircase has triangular treads / tapered treads that
wind around quarter of half in place of landing.
WINDERS

24. E) Curved Stair:
1. They do not have a common axis of rotation.
2. The user does not get discomfort as in the case of continuous type
spiral stair case.
3. This stair in one single operation reaches the upper floor to be
connected without having any intermediate landing(s).
4. Also due to its appearance as arc of a circle, it may be termed as
circular stair too.
Advantages of Curved Stairs:
1. Curved staircases are often very elegant and traditional though
can equally be adapted to contemporary designs.
2. They are relatively easy to walk up when the radius of the stair
case is larger one.
3. It’s interesting to have a continuous change of vision for the
users.(breaks monotonous view)
Disadvantages of Curved Stairs:
1. They are costly to build.
2. It needs technical supervision to construct this type of
staircase.

25. DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR STAIRCASE DESIGNING:
There are certain requirements of a staircase to be fulfilled for providing easy means of access and to become
user friendly. Also stair safety is another fundamental criterion for the users.
• Location: The location of a staircase is important from its usage point of view. It should be situated at the
middle or corner of the house as per requirement but prior to its construction and design, it should be noted
that the stair way is getting adequate light at even worst possible environmental conditions. The stair
should have a convenient approach towards it and should be spacious. Preferably it should be located at
that place of the building such that it can be accessed at all possible times including emergency time.
• Length of a Flight: In any stair way, the flight length should be such that users do not feel discomfort or
any confusion should not arise in the minds of the users. Keeping this in mind, the flight length should be
containing at most 12-13 steps and at least 3 steps.
• Width & Length of Stair: Mostly the stair width should be such that the foot of the user should fit to the
stair including the nosing. At least the width of the stair should be such that the user does not loose his/her
balance. A stair width of 30 cm is normally found sufficient which may be increased or decreased as per
suitability. Similarly a step length of 90 cm may be adopted as minimum length of stair case for residential
low rise buildings whereas for commercial buildings, the length should be within 1.5 m to 1.8 m.

26. • Head room Clearance: As described earlier, the clear distance between the tread of the stair and
soffit of roof is called head room clearance which should be at least of 2.1 m to 2.3 m.
• Construction Material: Steps though are constructed of various materials, but use of R.C.C is most
common next to steel. However, for steel construction, the fire resistance must be checked or if
required a 40 to 60 mm concrete cover of grade M20 concrete should be provided. Also the material
should exhibit both crushing and bending strength against applied load and at worst combination of
possible loading.
• Protection against Falling: The stair case must be equipped with balustrade at the rate of at least
one baluster per step along with a hand rail and newel post at the end of flight for safety of users. The
stair room should be well lighted and rough surface of stair case is desirable to avoid any accident.
• Dimension of Steps: The width should be 30 cm though at no case it should be less than 25 cm.
Similarly, the length of staircase 90cm to 1.8m. The rise of the staircase is preferably kept half than
that of the tread length. But in case of public buildings like schools and hospitals, the rise is kept 10
cm for better comfort. Similarly the landing should not be less than 30 cm or step going width,
whichever is greater.

27. Types of Staircase Material
Types of Staircase
(As per there Material)
1. Wooden Staircase
2. Glass Staircase
3. Metal Staircase
4. Stone Staircase
5. Concrete Staircase

28. 1. One of the most stylish materials to use for a staircase is wood.
2. It generally adds contemporary, traditional or rustic look to the
ambience.
3. Wooden staircases are ideal for places with space issues.
However, they are preferred for modern interiors or to match
with existing wooden interiors.
4. Mostly temporary use.
5. Less costly.
6. Easy to construct.
7. Least strong among all.
8. The thickness of the string may be 3-5 cm and depth may be
between 25-40 cm.
WOODEN STAIRCASE

29. PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN FOR WOODEN STAIRCASE
1. The wooden or timber stairs are prone to fire attack and hence not generally
used.
2. It can be used as staircase in low rise buildings used for residential
purposes with special fire proofing treatment and the wood of trees like Oak
etc.
3. The timber/wood used for construction should be free from any cracks or
voids or fungal decay. Also it should be free from insect attacks.

30. Glass
1. For giving your home an ultra-modern look,
glass is the ultimate choice.
2. It adds a contemporary look to the interiors
of the home and brings class and luxury.
3. Glass staircases are apt for space-constraint
homes.
4. Earlier, glass was considered a delicate
material, but many new varieties of glass
have been invented which have made the
material a little more sturdy.
5. Not being a durable material, glass requires
high maintenance.

31. Metal
1. Metal is susceptible to corrosion and rust.
2. Metal staircases are also a good option for
space-constraint areas
3. In metal stairs normally iron is used.
4. Mild steel are extensively used for emergency
staircase.
5. Mostly preferred for commercial spaces.
6. They are tough and can withstand higher load
due to ductility.
7. Metal stairs are made up of rolled steel
sections mostly channel sections used as
stringer of the stair case.
8. Then angles sections are bolted or welded to
the stringers to form treads and risers.
9. Wide application in where heavy load is
required to be transmitted. Needs
maintenance.

32. Stone
1. Stone offers colour and texture in variety.
2. Marble and granite are commonly used stones for a staircase.
3. Marble staircase is a preferred choice for homes.
4. Stone is a better option for stairs in entryway or garden area.
5. Stone materials can be carved into different shapes to form a staircase.
6. Fire resistive.
7. Mostly found in temple areas.
8. Needs dressing; so skilled masons are required.
9. Less costly except ornamental stones.

33. Concrete
1. Concrete is the commonly used material to construct a
stairway.
2. It conveniently takes the shape you desire for your stairs.
Hence ornamental design is possible.
3. Curved and spiral staircases are the usual examples of
staircase designs that can be easily made from concrete.
4. The only disadvantage of a concrete structure is that it does
not look visually appealing.
5. Widely used for residential as well as commercial purposes.
6. Fire resistive.
7. Strongest as compared to all.
8. High tension carrying capacity.
9. More costly and used as permanent staircase.
10. Also cantilever and helical stairs are made of using R.C.C.