Staircase Designs in Kenya: Straight, Dog-Leg, Spiral and Floating
The plan shape decides the footprint
Straight flight. Simplest, cheapest, and the easiest to walk. It needs the longest run of floor, the full going of every tread in one line, which is why it is uncommon in compact Nairobi housing.
Quarter-turn. A straight flight with a 90-degree turn, usually on a landing. Fits a corner and keeps most of the comfort of a straight run.
Dog-leg or half-turn. Two flights with a half-landing between, doubling back. The most space-efficient comfortable stair, and the standard in Kenyan maisonettes for good reason.
Winder. Turns using tapered treads instead of a landing. Saves the landing’s floor area and gives you a narrow inner end on every winding tread, which is where people misjudge their footing.
Spiral. Smallest footprint, worst to use. Right for roof access, a mezzanine or a secondary stair. Wrong as a main household stair, and we will say so.
Floating. Treads cantilevered from a wall or a spine beam with no visible support. The most dramatic and the most structurally demanding.
Treads
Chequer plate: industrial, grippy, cheapest, and noisy underfoot. Solid timber on steel stringers, the most common domestic combination in Nairobi. Warm, quiet, and the timber can be refinished later. Glass: striking, needs laminated glass with a slip-resistant surface, and shows every mark. Concrete infill: heavy, silent, and effectively permanent.
The balustrade is half the design
A stair reads as its balustrade more than its treads. Vertical bar is safest and most neutral; glass makes a stair look lighter and shows the treads; horizontal wire or bar looks contemporary and forms a ladder, which is a real consideration in a house with small children.
Gaps of 100mm maximum wherever a child could reach. We build to that as standard.
Headroom
The constraint people forget. You need clear height above every tread, and the tightest point is usually where the flight passes under the floor opening above it. On a retrofit into an existing opening, headroom rather than plan shape frequently decides the design.