Atrium Staircase

This villa lives outdoors. Terraces, palms and a garden that flows into the living space — the owners wanted the staircase to belong to that world, not interrupt it.

We placed the flight in the atrium, where a rooflight already poured sun down the lime-plastered wall.

Thick oak treads cantilever from the wall, and a curtain of slender cables runs floor to ceiling — enough to hold onto, thin enough to see straight through.

Below the flight, a planted bed lets the garden continue under the stairs. Vines have already begun to climb the cables, exactly as the owners hoped.

By afternoon, the treads carry moving shadows of leaves. No artwork was ever planned for this wall; none is needed.