Steel allowed Kunding to be playful with the staircase’s form.

The structure is heavy timber, painted white, with large stretches of glass. A modern staircase connects the house's levels.

Kate’s father predicted they would never use the crow’s nest–like tower, which is reached by climbing a narrow staircase.

The wall beneath the stairs holds hidden storage, including an Enomatic wine dispenser and Sub-Zero refrigerated drawers.

The trip from garage to first floor is through a wood-clad spiral staircase that resembles a giant slatted barrel.

Resident Peter Østergaard (with Maja, 6, and Carl, 20 months) and architect and photographer Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen have been best friends since they were 13, which makes for easy collaboration. Says Bjerre-Poulsen: “There are always a lot of challenges in a renovation, but Peter and Åsa trusted my judgment and gave me a completely free hand. Usually it’s hard to push people into unconventional solutions, but Peter has all these wild and crazy ideas.” One such idea was to embed a transparent glass-and-iron door in the floor, operated by a hydraulic pump, which allows access to the subterranean wine cellar. At night, the lit-up cellar glows, lending the compact living room an increased sense of verticality.

The stairs lead to a sleeping loft outfitted with a mechanical skylight.

Six staircases, many open to outside light, serve as pathways between the private interior spaces.

"We composed the house to have its highest, brightest space in the middle," says Paul Raff. Warm wood stairs lead to the second floor, which houses guest bedrooms, bath, and a kitchenette for the family's frequent visitors.

The upper level of the 5,300-square-foot space is accessed via a slender stair with reclaimed-wood treads.

A staircase forms the core of the 1,800-square-foot home, with a symmetrical alcove on either side. The steps, hardwood floors, and slatted bridge on the second floor are made of white oak, providing a rich contrast with its white walls.

The staircase’s steel guardrail and the custom black bookshelf create a link between the kitchen, the living space, and the entryway.

The sculptural staircase is a centerpiece of the open-plan kitchen and living room.

This wooden staircase doubles as kitchen shelving in the English designer's home. Tyler hired David Restorick, a furniture maker and friend, to build a staircase that doubles as display space for Tyler's vast collection of colorful cookware.

A sculptural white steel spiral staircase with wooden treads connects the two levels.

Yeo descends the spiral staircase that connects the public and private spaces while Ian relaxes on a pair of Cappellini Superlight 750 sofas designed by Barber Osgerby. The Gwapa lounge chair and ottoman in the corner were designed by Marcel Wanders.

A steel spiral staircase efficiently links all three floors. With no interior doors, Yurika can keep an ear on the shop from upstairs while maintaining the privacy of her home with the help of the vertical distance.

The firm also designed a slatted screen next to the staircase.

The containers are fused side-by-side, giving each apartment a 16-foot width. They are then stacked in four pairs with wrought, industrial-style exterior staircases in-between. To spare living space and installation headaches, a cinder block core houses utilities and a bathroom for each unit.

“The intimate courtyard, with a concrete floor and plants, is an homage to many charming places in Southern California, where my wife and I lived for four years before getting married," says Priatman.

An unadorned spruce wood staircase leads to the upper level.

A striking stair defines the entry to the house; it features minimalist floating timber stair treads wrapped around a woven steel mesh blade wall.

The staircase leading to the master suite features aluminum treads supported on stainless steel tubes. "We wanted something that would allow the resin panels behind it to reflect the light from the windows at the top of the stair," Slade says.

An intricately detailed staircase leads to the central wing’s second level. Its walnut treads and top rail harmonize with the welded steel rod railings. The geometric pattern on the staircase’s risers comes from encaustic tiles that were handmade in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The staircase is about 46 feet tall from top to bottom.

The family room is situated at the apex of the house, with picturesque views that extend up the meticulously landscaped north slope. The concrete floor sits just low enough that the main elements of the scene—the succulent garden and large limestone ledges—are at eye level. A bank of NanaWall folding windows breaks up the fourth wall.

A lofted sleeping pod offers a bit of privacy and helps maximize space. Beneath it is a zippy yellow bathroom.

The caged staircase was designed by architect Patrick Ousey, with whom Flournoy collaborated in the home’s design. Although initially unconvinced by the staircase detail, “it is a great example of how collaboration brings in different perspectives,” says Flournoy.

Once through the street-level entrance, the property's modern garage door comes into view. Stairs lead up to the kitchen.

Two-inch-thick bamboo treads and a bamboo handrail on the stairs lead the way to the second floor.

“I love this low-level stair window. It’s at head height when you’re at the bottom of the stairs; it gives you a glimpse of, and connection to, the garden outside. Most of the windows capture what I’d call ‘hero shots,’ but some, like this one, are completely unexpected.”

Ran and her brother, Gen, read on one of the structure’s 44 continuous steps.

Andrew Magnes’s hanging screen composed of aluminum circles and lines, cut with a CNC water jet, separates the entry from the staircase and rear kitchen area.

A laser-cut-steel staircase connects the two floors.

The house’s central staircase is encased in oak paneling, which brings added warmth and texture to the ground floor. The wide steps rise to the second floor, which houses three bedrooms and bathrooms.

The decidedly industrial exterior features smooth dark gray stucco, a custom steel mesh wall, and a metal spiral staircase leading from the ground floor to the roof deck. The clients love the industrial look because it feels raw and natural to them. The footprint of the new addition lies at the rear of the existing home, and the dark exterior helps seamlessly integrate the new structure into the natural slope of the land. According to architect John Klopf, the new addition acts as a spatial backdrop for the existing structure, “receding visually out of respect for the original home.”