Perfecting the form and tempering the transition of the sculpted staircase required a lot of thought. We detailed and documented everything and then refined it on site. At first it didn’t feel sculpted enough, so we built a model to demonstrate the complex curve we were looking for. Initially, the carpenters and plasterers didn’t think they could pull off those three intersecting curves, so helping them to understand it from an artist’s perspective was challenging, but worth it.
You can now see that in the form of the ribbon, and the imagined imprint of the hand carving the plaster away. As the staircase wraps its way down the levels, the ribbon disappears under the stairs. In the void, we placed a small ceramic chair, its deep earthy tones exploring the visual language of craft. As we worked through the design process, we saw the ceiling as a continuation of the stair, and the interior followed as a thematic journey of theatrical details in colour, texture and sculpted light.
