The British office dRMM have designed this infinite Escher-esque stairs as their proposal for the London Design Festival 2013. They can be walked up and down in a tri-dimensional game of perception and circulation, with St. Paul's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern gallery at the background. There is also a serious technical purpose – to showcase the potential of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels made from American tulipwood.

Memory of project

Londoners and visitors will have a chance to experience the city in a new way this autumn, with the construction of the Endless Stair, a highlight of the London Design Festival which will see a series of interlocking timber staircases rising to a height of several storeys outside St Paul’s Cathedral, overlooking the Millennium Bridge and across to Tate Modern.

The project is the brainchild of architect Alex de Rijke, founder of architects dRMM and Dean of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, working to a commission from the American Hardwood Export Council, and engineered by Arup. As well as providing an exciting experience with several platforms from which to enjoy views down towards the Thames, the project has a serious technical purpose – to showcase the potential of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels made from American tulipwood.

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a method of exploiting the structural properties of timber to create panels that can form buildings quickly, efficiently and sustainably. Introduced to the UK by a small number of forward-thinking architects, of whom dRMM was the first, CLT is a well-proven technology that has been used on projects such as the residential Bridport House in Hackney, east London.

Up until now all CLT has been made from softwood, however, using a hardwood such as tulipwood, which is widely available, has great advantages. As a result of its superior structural properties, CLT panels made from tulipwood could potentially be much thinner than softwood panels of similar strength and stiffness. This leads to a saving in materials and to the possibility of more slender solutions. The elegance of the steps in the Endless Stair is only possible as a result of these superior structural properties.

Alex de Rijke describes the interlocking stair design as “a three-dimensional exercise in composition, structure and scale”. He adds, “The ambitious structure is both marker and meeting place, on axis with the Millennium Bridge. The Escher-like game of perception and circulation in timber playfully contrasts with the religious and corporate environment of stone and glass in the city.”

dRMM Architects has pioneered the use of CLT with projects such as Kingsdale School and MK40 Tower. De Rijke has described timber as “the new concrete”, predicting that it will be the dominant construction material of the 21st Century.

This is the most recent in a series of innovative projects that AHEC has commissioned for the London Design Festival, including the Timber Wave, designed by AL_A, which stood outside the main entrance to the Victoria & Albert Museum in autumn 2011. With projects like the Timber Wave and the Endless Stair, Arup, which is responsible for the engineering of both projects, is really showing what hardwood can achieve.

Text.- Ruth Slavid.

CREDITS

Architects.- dRMM Architects
Structural Engineering.- ARUP
Sponsor.- American Hardwood Export Council

 

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dRMM Architects. Alex de Rijke. Director. BA, MA (RCA), Dip Arch. UK/NL. Alex de Rijke is a founding Director of dRMM, having established the practice in 1995 with Philip Marsh and Sadie Morgan. He is a design champion at dRMM, responsible for the concept, construction and delivery of our timber projects. These include such diverse projects as Sliding House, Kingsdale School, Charlton WorkStack, Tower of Love, Endless Stair, Hastings Pier, WoodBlock House and Maggie’s Oldham.

Alex conducts ongoing research into contemporary materials, technologies and methods of construction. In 2006 he wrote, ‘Timber is the new Concrete’, and introduced cross-laminated timber to the UK with groundbreaking prefabricated buildings, Kingsdale School Sports Hall in London, and the Naked House prototype exhibited in Oslo. Through Alex’s leadership, dRMM has become recognised as a pioneer and authority on engineered timber design and construction, especially CLT (cross-laminated timber).

In 2013 de Rijke, alongside AHEC and ARUP, invented the first cross-laminated timber made from a hardwood and in the form of Endless Stair demonstrated its incomparable beauty, strength and sustainability in the LDF 2013 installation at Tate Modern. In summer 2017, construction will complete on dRMM’s Maggie’s cancer care centre in Oldham. A building that demonstrates a synthesis of concept, construction and user well-being; it is made entirely from tulipwood CLT and glass. The project reveals Alex’s total design ethos in its integration of landscape, architecture, furniture and art.

Prof.de Rijke advocates learning through experimentation and making, and his extensive experience includes teaching, lecturing and examining at many european schools of Architecture. From 2011-2015 he was Professor of the Masters programme and Dean of Architecture at the Royal College of Art. Alex is currently an External Examiner to the Design & Make timber programme at the Architectural Association, and a Visiting Professor to the Royal College of Art, London. He lectures internationally, presenting dRMM’s work from Scandinavia and Europe to Asia and Australasia. He has given conference papers on a range of themes including: engineered timber architecture and construction; prefabricated and mobile architecture; and the relationship between architecture and health.

Under Richard Roger’s former chairmanship, Alex de Rijke was a member of the Design for London Advisory Panel, and continues to contribute to design discussions at institutions such as the RIBA, ARCAM (Architecture Centre Amsterdam) and the Milan Salone del Mobile. Alex represents dRMM and the wider profession in the media through radio, TV appearances, and features in publications such as The Plan, Architectural Review, Dezeen and The Guardian.

With a parallel passion as photographer, Alex photographs for publications and exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale 2008 and 2012, and documents dRMM’s projects on an ongoing basis.
 
Sadie Morgan. Director. BA (Hons), MA (RCA), FRSA. UK. Sadie is a Founding Director of dRMM and industry leader. Her steadfast belief in the importance of design that connects back to people and place is a central influence in our practice. Over her 20-year career Sadie has had an increasingly significant role in the advocacy of design and architecture through her professional practice and her advisory roles.

Sadie reports directly to the Secretary of State as Chair of the Independent Design Panel for High Speed Two. She is a commissioner for both the National Infrastructure Commission led by former Cabinet Minister Lord Adonis, and Lord Heseltine’s Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission. Sadie has been appointed as a Professor at the University of Westminster, London and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the London South Bank University in 2016.

She lectures internationally on the importance of design, architecture and infrastructure, and sits on various competition juries and advisory panels including the RIBA National Awards Advisory panel and the World Architecture Festival super jury. As a media commentator she appears on TV and radio, and writes regular columns for publications such as Building magazine and the Estates Gazette.

Sadie has won the 2016 Building Magazine Personality of the Year Award and the 2015 CBI First Woman Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the built environment, and she was shortlisted for the 2015 AJ Woman Architect of the Year award. She became the youngest and third ever-female President of the Architectural Association in 2013.

Aspects of Sadie’s design thinking can be found throughout dRMM’s projects, from the Stirling Prize shortlisted Trafalgar Place and Clapham Manor Primary School, to the Athlete’s Village for the London Olympic Games and Faraday House at the Battersea Power Station.

Philip Marsh. Director. BA, Dip Arch (UCL), RIBA. UK. Founding Director of dRMM, Philip has been central to dRMM’s education projects. He was project architect for the remodelling of Kingsdale School, an acclaimed project that addressed student morale and education standards through the radical transformation of the learning environment. This experience was distilled into Dura, dRMM’s Exemplar School for the DfES. He was project architect for Clapham Manor Primary School, shortlisted for the 2010 Stirling Prize and in 2013 completed 4 Dwellings a 2FE Primary School for Birmingham City Council. Current projects include a new campus for Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education.

Philip was the architect for the Elephant & Castle Regeneration pilot, Wansey St, a mixed tenure scheme for which dRMM were awarded BD Public Housing Architect of the Year 2006. Additionally, he co-designed the recently completed sister project Harper Square, for Family Mosaic shortlisted for the NLA 2013 award for housing.

Philip has designed ArtHouse for Argent, the first private housing scheme delivered at Kings Cross Central completed 3Q 2013. He is currently working on Faraday House, phase one of Battersea Power Station, a project which has been described by David Cameron as “jewel in the crown” of regeneration projects in London.
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Published on: June 14, 2013
Cite: "Endless Stair" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/endless-stair> ISSN 1139-6415
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