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Toronto architects utilizes under stair storage
Under stair storage is a great way to utilize dead space in your home. It may not be the easiest project to tackle yourself, but it is an ingenious way to store things. We highlighted some under stair storage a while back and the most recent example is from Toronto architects Christine Ho Ping Kong and Peter Tan.
Dwell magazine featured this wonderful home in their April issue and the slideshow is well worth viewing. The home took Peter and Christine six years to complete and features many unique ideas. Peter constructed the under stair storage himself with each stair being its own separate drawer. Here is a excerpt from the article on making the most of a small space:
The unusual site and limited budget created a crucible for Ho Ping Kong and Tan’s intense creativity. Beyond the constraints of building codes and cost, the extremely tight quarters presented their own challenges. “In this house, the small spaces were massaged to hold as much as possible,” Tan says. The pair met the demands of the compact design, but just as they got all of the pieces arranged, along came their two children. “Originally, Pete wanted only one bedroom,” Ho Ping Kong remembers with ?a grin. “I had to say to him, where will our kids sleep?”
“I was in my purist phase,” Tan counters, smiling. “I was thinking: Here are the architectural elements we need—now how can we fit bedrooms inside?” The solution is a testament to their inventiveness. The bed in the master bedroom sits up against three small screen doors with the children’s beds on the other side. The flexible barrier creates a semiprivate room that can be kept open while the children are young. A second sliding wall system will be installed when the kids are ready to have their own rooms.
22 comments posted
Posted by Dan - 04/06/2009
This is an accident waiting to happen if you have kids or will be expecting kids! LOL
Posted by J - 04/06/2009
My thoughts exactly! I hope that those are self closing drawers or a red strobe light goes off when one of the drawers are open.
Posted by Tiimbo - 04/06/2009
Have to agree with previous posters. This is a classic case of clever design and obsession with saving space overtaking common sense.
Whether you’ve got kids or not, these steps are a terrible idea.
Posted by Karyn - 04/06/2009
I like the idea of utilizing the space under the stairs, but I have to agree that drawers opening from the front of each step seems potentially hazardous–and not only to children, but to anyone who is among the Coordinationally Challenged or maybe just wandering downstairs half-asleep in the middle of the night and doesn’t notice the drawer that didn’t quite get shut all the way. I’m surprised this passed the housing code, given how picky those can be!
On the positive side, I have seen solutions that involved drawers, cabinets, closets, and cubbies which were accessed from the side of the staircase, standing on the lower floor. If I ever have a home with multiple levels, I’d probably build in something like that.
Posted by Marie - 04/06/2009
These people are architects and designers, I’m sure they thought of the challenges and dangers involved. The stair drawers probably close by themselves, the way a door can be set to automatically shut. Too bad my stairs are carpeted, because that looks like a huge amount of storage.
The slide show was very cool, but I was overwhelmed at the amount of wood in the house. I’d love to have hardwood floors, don’t get me wrong, but wood walls and ceilings too?
Posted by sharon - 04/06/2009
I think it’s pretty cool. Asian cultures are used to living with more wood and more confined spaces. I love the natural light coming through all the shoji.
Posted by cagey - 04/06/2009
Heh. This made me laugh out loud. My great-grandparents’ house had “under the steps” storage because my great-grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition and that is where he stored some of his “product”.
Posted by Lori Paximadis - 04/06/2009
@Karyn: “Coordinationally Challenged” — I resemble that remark!
It doesn’t look like they’re suffering for storage in that place. In 600 square feet, maybe this would make more sense, but in 2,200? Not so much.
I’m also curious about the structural integrity of the steps. Plank steps without risers are usually much thicker than these appear to be, and with the drawers there, you don’t get any support from a riser. I know the people are architects, but in my house hunting I’ve seen a *lot* of stupid things done by architects because it looks cool but isn’t necessarily functional.
Posted by Cole - 04/06/2009
Wow, really? We’re so clumsy as a people that we can’t be adult enough to shut drawers?
This is a clear influence of Japanese design (in one of my favorite books, “Small Spaces” by Azby Brown). Of course, in Japan, people realize that they should be careful and meticulous when it comes to putting things away. Guess for some of us “bull in a china shop” Americans, we just can’t handle it. I’d rather have stair drawers to put things in than leave stuff in the path of my 10 month old daughter in the floor.
Posted by Sunny Paris - 04/06/2009
In many houses, the under-stairs area is the ceiling of the stairs to the basement. Or, as Karyn points out, the under-stair area is already useful- because it can be accessed from the side, either in closet or drawer form. Either way seems to make more sense than this. I wouldn’t have a problem tripping (I don’t think) because I do close drawers, but I would find it weird to kneel on say, step 3, to open step 4.
Posted by Sunny Paris - 04/06/2009
And.. .while I thought it was very pretty and well lit, I don’t know why in that large of space, he was so against having a separate bedroom for the kids. If they lived in a 600 square foot loft, I could see the solution as is. But, I agree, in that amount of space, a little less open space, and a little more privacy doesn’t seem out of line.
Posted by Michael - 04/06/2009
I have to agree: too dangerous
Posted by Louise - 04/06/2009
My objection to under stair drawers is the dirt factor. The fine grit and dust on everyone’s floors would work its way into the drawers no matter how tightly they sealed. Stairs flex a bit, too, as you walk on them. That action would serve to vibrate even more dirt inside.
Posted by Julia - 04/07/2009
These are great! I’ve been thinking about finishing my yet to be completed (goin’ on 4 years now!) stairs which go from my 500s.f. workshop to my 500s.f. living space- I need all the storage I can get!
I’ve also been researching an alternative, small footprint set of stair to get to my sleeping loft and stummbled (ha!) upon this awesome blog stairporn.org- you should check it out.
Posted by Lose That Girl - 04/07/2009
Show offs! Seriously, it’s a neat idea but not the most practical for a busy household with kids or pets. I like the storage stairs that I’ve seen that have access via the sides as pointed out by a previous poster.
Posted by Brandon - 04/07/2009
Interesting! I bet creative storage will become more attractive as people realize that their McMansions are not sustainable.
Posted by lisa - 04/07/2009
the 1st thing I thought after “that’s pretty nifty” was what a hassle those could be to keep clean. much easier to sweep plain steps than having to vacuum to get all dirt from the tracks. side access stair storage? I really like that idea!
Posted by timgray - 04/07/2009
nothing new. My grandmothers home had this and it was built over 100 years ago. I love it when the new crop of Architects think they are being clever when what they think up has been done nearly a century ago by a clever cabinetmaker.
Posted by Tiimbo - 04/07/2009
“Of course, in Japan, people realize that they should be careful and meticulous when it comes to putting things away.”
It may be hard to believe, but even a Japanese person can forget to close a drawer. These storage steps are a spectacuarly bad idea.
I’m a Dwell subscriber, and every issue I’m amazed by design elements that look great but are just dangerous.
Posted by Springpeeper - 04/07/2009
While these are lovely, I think that if you wanted to build storage space into your stairs it would be cheaper and safer to simply put a hinge on each stair tread and have each open up like the lid on a chest. Gravity would keep them closed when not in use.
It’s also not enough to just make storage space wherever you can… you must decide beforehand exactly what you intend to place in that nifty storage spot, and it has to be something appropriate to that part of the house, otherwise it will just fill up with junk! So what would be appropriate/useful to store in stairs?
Posted by K - 04/07/2009
A hinge on each stair tread wouldn’t help the hopelessly clumsy like me — I can just imagine what would happen when my toe catches the end of a tread as I’m going up the stairs…
Posted by stair storage=brilliant « the string - 06/23/2009
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