Staircase at Aalborg Portland

Staircase at Slotsmøllen, Kolding

Staircases

One of the first application areas where the architects were able to take advantage of the strength and durability of CRC to produce light and slender structures was for staircases. The staircase at Aalborg Portland - shown in the top picture - was one of the very first staircases produced in CRC and was installed in 1997. 

Since then CRC has been used for hundreds of staircases ranging from simple and inexpensive staircases to very impressive feature staircases.

For the relatively simple staircases the possibility of designing light and slender structures in CRC - e.g. for fire escapes - is utilised, while the feature staircases take advantage of the possibility of combining the expression of solidity achieved with concrete with the light and slender structures, that would otherwise have to be produced in steel - with the resulting need for fire protection.

Even though staircases will vary extensively in their design a number of examples of CRC stairs have nevertheless been divided into groups, namely accordion staircases, staircases with stringer support, helical staircases, spiral staircases and "other staircases" - where the latter includes single steps fastened directly to a wall.