The Set, Hudson Yards, New York [US]

EeStairs + Handel Architects

This helical staircase designed by Handel Architects is in The Set, a 13-story residential tower in Hudson Yards, one of New York’s most dynamic and fashionable urban regeneration areas. The key issue for EeStairs’ fabricators and installers was to ensure that the balustrades and soffits had perfect finishes, and complete structural integrity.

The balustrades and stringers were formed with box-section rolled steel plates, and the outer faces of the balustrades clad with bronze. The inner faces of the balustrades were painted bright red. Normally, these finishes can be achieved straightforwardly, but in this case the staircase was delivered in smaller than usual sections because the only access was by elevator.

And so our team’s reassembly of the stair parts in situ had to be geometrically precise to make the access holes and bronze fasteners invisible, and ensure that the painted inner faces of the balustrades would look absolutely smooth. We also developed an overlapping tread-pad system to lock the staircase structure together securely without requiring any visually disruptive strengthening.