This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Photo by Junichi Harano
Small single-wall medium tone wood floor eat-in kitchen photo in Tokyo with no island, open cabinets, white cabinets, stainless steel countertops, white backsplash, white appliances and an integrated sink

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Attractive living as an architectural experiment: a 136-year-old water tower, a listed building with a spectacular 360-degree panorama view over the City of London. The task, to transform it into a superior residence, initially seemed an absolute impossibility. But when the owners came across architect Mike Collier, they had found a partner who was to make the impossible possible. The tower, which had been empty for decades, underwent radical renovation work and was extended by a four-storey cube containing kitchen, dining and living room - connected by glazed tunnels and a lift shaft. The kitchen, realised by Enclosure Interiors in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with furniture from LEICHT is the very heart of living in this new building. Shiny white matt-lacquered kitchen fronts (AVANCE-LR), tone-on-tone with the worktops, reflect the light in the room and thus create expanse and openness. The surface of the handle-less kitchen fronts has a horizontal relief embossing; depending on the light incidence, this results in a vitally structured surface. The free-standing preparation isle with its vertical side panels with a seamlessly integrated sink represents the transition between kitchen and living room. The fronts of the floor units facing the dining table were extended to the floor to do away with the plinth typical of most kitchens. Ceiling-high tall units on the wall provide plenty of storage space; the electrical appliances are integrated here invisible to the eye. Floor units on a high plinth which thus appear to be floating form the actual cooking centre within the kitchen, attached to the wall. A range of handle-less wall units concludes the glazed niche at the top. LEICHT international: “Architecture and kitchen” in the centre of London. www.LeichtUSA.com

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Staircase - contemporary wooden u-shaped open and metal railing staircase idea in Toronto

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Attractive living as an architectural experiment: a 136-year-old water tower, a listed building with a spectacular 360-degree panorama view over the City of London. The task, to transform it into a superior residence, initially seemed an absolute impossibility. But when the owners came across architect Mike Collier, they had found a partner who was to make the impossible possible. The tower, which had been empty for decades, underwent radical renovation work and was extended by a four-storey cube containing kitchen, dining and living room - connected by glazed tunnels and a lift shaft. The kitchen, realised by Enclosure Interiors in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with furniture from LEICHT is the very heart of living in this new building. Shiny white matt-lacquered kitchen fronts (AVANCE-LR), tone-on-tone with the worktops, reflect the light in the room and thus create expanse and openness. The surface of the handle-less kitchen fronts has a horizontal relief embossing; depending on the light incidence, this results in a vitally structured surface. The free-standing preparation isle with its vertical side panels with a seamlessly integrated sink represents the transition between kitchen and living room. The fronts of the floor units facing the dining table were extended to the floor to do away with the plinth typical of most kitchens. Ceiling-high tall units on the wall provide plenty of storage space; the electrical appliances are integrated here invisible to the eye. Floor units on a high plinth which thus appear to be floating form the actual cooking centre within the kitchen, attached to the wall. A range of handle-less wall units concludes the glazed niche at the top. LEICHT international: “Architecture and kitchen” in the centre of London. www.LeichtUSA.com

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This versatile staircase doubles as stadium-style seating, creating a gathering space adjacent to the home's modern wine cellar and bar. Wide oak treads with high risers invite homeowners and guests to sit and socialize, transforming a typical vertical connection into a multi-functional social hub. Above, a riser-less staircase allows natural light to flow freely through the space, creating visual lightness and drama. The dual-staircase design proves that staircases can serve multiple purposes—connecting levels while also shaping how people use and enjoy a space. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company