Stairs in centre of hall

Jollyman

Guys,

Would appreciate yer input into this reference the attached drawing what would be the possibility of putting the stairs in the centre of the corridor and would it restrict space too much?

muffler

They would just about fir IMO. To do justice to a stairs centred in the hall they should be at least a metre wide which adds to the cost. It would still leave around 1.1m either side for traffic which is the bare min. you would need. The other thing to watch out for is Part M requirements in relation to wheelchair access - ie. width between stairs and adjacent walls.

Mellor

Also, in its current location the stairs is too close to the door. 400mm min,
it looks to be about 180mm now


I don't think it works in the centre, its just about fits, but its not suited imo.
For a centred stairs to work, you should not be required to walk around it. It should sit against a wall and you only walk by it, this is generally in large halls/lobbies that are more square that rectangular

BoozyBabe

I hope so!!, cos that's my plan!!!
My stairs are 1m wide. My hall is 3.2m wide, leaving 1.1m either side of the stairs.

One thing to think of though, is how far away from the front door will the 1st step be? If it's too squashed, the less a visual impact the stairs would make, & instead it would look like they are in the way.

I don't know if we've been successful on this point! Obviously hall & landing are wasted space, so we're trying to get the look we want while restricting the amount of floor space going to waste.
Currently, the maximum I can draw it is th 1st step is about 1.9m away from the front door.
What do you guys think of this? You think it'll look ok?

Sorry for hijacking, but a few other questions:-
What is the minimum legal distance that must be allowed for wheelchair access?
As I said, downstairs, there's 1.1m on either side of the stairs, but if we wanted to flare out the stairs a bit at the bottom, would we be able to?
(EDIT:- Just to say, with the stairs flared slightly at the bottom, the house plans still allow access to every other room downstairs for someone in a wheelchair via an alternative route if the hall was slightly too narrow at its narrowest point. Does this matter when coming to planning permission?)

Also, upstairs, we have a big central opening looking down onto the ground floor. You can walk the whole way around this, but again, not to compromise room floor space too much, we've restricted this walking space to 1m wide on 3 sides. Is this ok? Does wheelchair access come into affect on the 1st floor of a house with no lift anyway?

Thanks
BB

sydthebeat

Mellor wrote: »

Also, in its current location the stairs is too close to the door. 400mm min,
it looks to be about 180mm now

My understanding of this reg is that it has to be 400mm away from the door swing, so in this case, because the door opens into the room and not out into the hall, its fine and complies.

Mellor

BoozyBabe wrote: »

What is the minimum legal distance that must be allowed for wheelchair access?

The minimum depends on the width of doors (or the min width of doors depend on corridor width).
The min width is 900, 1050 or 1200 depending on door widths
1050 is common

(EDIT:- Just to say, with the stairs flared slightly at the bottom, the house plans still allow access to every other room downstairs for someone in a wheelchair via an alternative route if the hall was slightly too narrow at its narrowest point. Does this matter when coming to planning permission?)

No, min widths apply everywhere on the ground floor

Also, upstairs, we have a big central opening looking down onto the ground floor. You can walk the whole way around this, but again, not to compromise room floor space too much, we've restricted this walking space to 1m wide on 3 sides. Is this ok? Does wheelchair access come into affect on the 1st floor of a house with no lift anyway?

not wheelchair access, but ambulant disabled access, the min is 900mm

muffler

Mellor wrote: »

The min width is 900, 1050 or 1200 depending on door widths
1050 is common

And dont forget that if you fit radiators at any point then you still must maintain the minimum width.

AFAIK these are all being updated and I think the min. will be 1200mm clear for hallways/corridors

BoozyBabe

muffler wrote: »

AFAIK these are all being updated and I think the min. will be 1200mm clear for hallways/corridors

:eek: Better hurry up & get the plans in then so!!!!

Thanks guys!
No radiators downstairs:- ufh. Don't think will hang any on landing, & if I do it would be under the window which is over 2m away from the opening, so it looks like I'm ok then.
The doors are 900, so looks like I'm ok there too then.

From a visual perspective, what do ye think it will look like? Far enough away from front door? Hall too narrow to do it justice? Length of hall downstairs is about 5.4m

Mellor

sydthebeat wrote: »

My understanding of this reg is that it has to be 400mm away from the door swing, so in this case, because the door opens into the room and not out into the hall, its fine and complies.

True, but its best practice to maintain 400 anyway, its not a great place for a door in terms of circulation
its not like the house is stuck for space,

Dizzyblonde

Aesthetically speaking, in my opinion stairs in the centre of the hall will make it look cramped and in a house of this size that would be a shame.
Also, if you're into Feng Shui at all, a stairs right inside the front door should be avoided.
We built our house last year and have a large hall with the stairs around a corner.

Jollyman

http://www.staircases.biz/prescott_flair.htm


It was a stairs kinda like this they were talking about putting in!

Im really not sure what the best option is as im not too convinced of where the stairs is at the moment either!

Note:- Boozy Babe i reckon the stairs in the link is very similar to what you are looking for!

Villain

I think you'll lose more than you will gain both Aesthetically and practically speaking.

Another option would be go 5 steps then return the stairs at an angle i.e. when you take the turn and look to your right you will be looking at the front door. Probably not the best idea and certainly not the best sketch but might be worth a thought

BoozyBabe

Thanks Jollyman, I couldn't have gotten a better link if I'd tried!!
Exactly what I was looking for, Cheers!

Jollyman

Thanks for that Villian will run that buy her too, see what the reaction is like
!!!! It may be an option

Your welcome Boozy, i thought it was a good one alright!

gaffmaster

The relocation of that staircase cannot be justified without seeing the upper floor plan.

Circulation space is really important, especially when you can afford it. Halls and landings are as important as any other room in the house.

Villains idea is a compromise worth considering.

ircoha

Its a pity to see such a fine house having the stairs 'shoe-horned in' like in 25sqm Section 23. I would look at squaring off the master bedroom entrance and then take a bit out of it and the dining room.

I think the stairs would look better if the threads were open, and still can comply with regs

muffler

ircoha wrote: »

Its a pity to see such a fine house having the stairs 'shoe-horned in' like in 25sqm Section 23. I would look at squaring off the master bedroom entrance and then take a bit out of it and the dining room.

I think the stairs would look better if the threads were open, and still can comply with regs

While not part of the OP's question, I would like to comment on the length of the runs of the hot water pipes to the different points in the house from the hot press.

My point is that the first x litres of cold will be wasted unless u recycle the grey water and then when finished the same x litres of hot will just go cold.

The whb in the smaller ensuite is c 11 metres from the HP
for the larger en-suite it is about 8 meters

So 11 by (0.022 *0.022* 3.14)/2 for 3/4 pipe is 8 litres
So 11 by (0.015 *0.015* 3.14)/2 for 1/2 pipe is 4 litres

Specific heat of water is 4.2 kJ/kg.K
assume delta T in water to be 50 degrees so 210kJ/kg

1 litre of water weighs 1kg so 8 litres weighs 8kg
so 1680kJ of energy or 0.5 kWh at say 20 cent a kWh or 10 cents per use,
or 73 euro a year based on 2 uses a day.
http://www.shec-labs.com/calc/unit_conversion.php?dim=7&common=T

I think the math is right but the concept certainly is.


In closing, from experience the 50 pence shaped conservatories at these dimensions can be a bit tight: you wont fit a coffee table between the 2 couches because the angle is closing in the space.

While your intentions may have been good and the OP may welcome your input the above comments have just dragged this thread completely off topic. You could have PM'd the details to the OP. And I note its normally yourself that is the first to complain about the content of posts that allegedly dont comply with the charter.

Please stay on topic.