Spot the Difference - Stair 6
Remember this?
Photo by Mike Twigg
This was the far western corner of the building, en route to the ladies WC (through the arch to the left), in what is known as House No 4. The remains of this stone staircase led up to the first floor but it was boarded off half way up and unusable.The little cubby-hole under the stairs was handy for storage but not a lot else. Much has changed since this image was taken in 2012.
Being staunch believers in invisible mending, we were keen to keep the old stone staircase. We have a charming little selection of old stairs that lead nowhere, disappearing into a wall or ceiling and we wanted to add this to the collection. Unfortunately, fire regulations dictated that a new escape staircase must be built into that end of the building and there was no way to incorporate these few stairs within it, so it had to go - although the stones are being re-used elsewhere so will continue to be a part of Wilton’s.
This minor loss has, in fact, turned out to be a massive gain thanks to Architect Adam Goodfellow’s sympathetic design for what was christened ‘stair 6’ on the drawings and W Anelay’s perfect execution - we’re sure you’ll agree as you follow the story of the new staircase in pictures…
Stair 6 was an early target for demolition work and had been taken out by 7th August so that the whole stairwell could be opened up, from basement to roof:
For the next three months, the empty stairwell was a hive of activity but continued to look pretty much like a tangle of scaffolding poles, rather like this:
and this:
Then, one day in November, there was much excitement when a consignment of beautiful stone slabs was delivered and, shortly afterwards, this appeared:
Lucky that the Mistress of the Blog managed to snap them (and walk up and down them, obviously) when she did because they were covered in protective wood and the scene was looking like a building site again a few days later as they began preparing for the upper flights.
But, by early December, the second floor landing was in place, as well as the skylight above it
Last week, these began to appear around the place
By the 18th, this magnificent flight of wooden stairs from the first to second floors was installed and looking completely at home:
and being used to the full in the clear-up ready for the builders heading off home for Christmas:
The only section yet to go in is a wrought iron spiral from the ground floor into the basement workshop and we can’t wait to see what this wood looks like once it’s been oiled. Being able to access every level of the building from that corner feels like a novelty yet, at the same time, as though it should always have been. A sure indicator of a great design and build team.
This was the far western corner of the building, en route to the ladies WC (through the arch to the left), in what is known as House No 4. The remains of this stone staircase led up to the first floor but it was boarded off half way up and unusable.The little cubby-hole under the stairs was handy for storage but not a lot else. Much has changed since this image was taken in 2012.
Being staunch believers in invisible mending, we were keen to keep the old stone staircase. We have a charming little selection of old stairs that lead nowhere, disappearing into a wall or ceiling and we wanted to add this to the collection. Unfortunately, fire regulations dictated that a new escape staircase must be built into that end of the building and there was no way to incorporate these few stairs within it, so it had to go - although the stones are being re-used elsewhere so will continue to be a part of Wilton’s.
This minor loss has, in fact, turned out to be a massive gain thanks to Architect Adam Goodfellow’s sympathetic design for what was christened ‘stair 6’ on the drawings and W Anelay’s perfect execution - we’re sure you’ll agree as you follow the story of the new staircase in pictures…
Stair 6 was an early target for demolition work and had been taken out by 7th August so that the whole stairwell could be opened up, from basement to roof:
For the next three months, the empty stairwell was a hive of activity but continued to look pretty much like a tangle of scaffolding poles, rather like this:
and this:
Then, one day in November, there was much excitement when a consignment of beautiful stone slabs was delivered and, shortly afterwards, this appeared:
Lucky that the Mistress of the Blog managed to snap them (and walk up and down them, obviously) when she did because they were covered in protective wood and the scene was looking like a building site again a few days later as they began preparing for the upper flights.
But, by early December, the second floor landing was in place, as well as the skylight above it
Last week, these began to appear around the place
By the 18th, this magnificent flight of wooden stairs from the first to second floors was installed and looking completely at home:
and being used to the full in the clear-up ready for the builders heading off home for Christmas:
The only section yet to go in is a wrought iron spiral from the ground floor into the basement workshop and we can’t wait to see what this wood looks like once it’s been oiled. Being able to access every level of the building from that corner feels like a novelty yet, at the same time, as though it should always have been. A sure indicator of a great design and build team.