Page 88 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

Stair before the
latest renovation.

Photo © McInturff Architects

New stair in the renovated Georgetown house. Photo © Anice Hoachlander/
Hoachlander Davis Photography

Washingtonian Residential Design Award—Detail

Georgetown House Stair
Washington, DC
McInturff Architects

Interior Designers: MRJ Design Group
Structural Engineers: 1200 Architectural
Engineers, PLLC
Stair Fabricators: AK Metals (steel); Detail of stair treads and stringers. Photo © Julia Heine
Potomac Woodwork (wood)
General Contractor: Taylor Concepts For the award, however, the jury focused on the final step
of the process: the form and detailing of the stair itself. “It’s the
way it floats,” the jury said, “its lightness and airiness.” Much of
In the past two decades, McInturff Architects has done three this comes from a bravura visual trick: the diagonal stringers,
renovations of this Georgetown rowhouse, one for each of the instead of running in a straight line as would be typical, have
three owners during that period. The previous two, however, a stepped shape, with each step bracketed by the thick wood
focused on renovations/additions at the rear of the house, with tread. This gives the illusion of a series of parts unconnected
only light effort on the front rooms. and therefore magically suspended.
The third renovation reverses that focus, shifting the “The detailing is so clean,” noted the jury. There are no
attention to the front rooms. Central to this was the main stair, visible connections (bolts, nails, etc.), and most of the building-
previously narrow, mostly enclosed, and winding. As a starting code-required guardrails are provided by full-height glass
point, McInturff expanded the stair, eliminating the winders to panels in ultra-narrow frames. All sides of the treads and
greatly improve its elemental functionality. Next, the architects landings, including the undersides, are of matching wood.
removed the enclosing walls so that the stair becomes a piece In short, said the jury, “It’s a great composition.”
of floating sculpture, visible throughout the open living areas.
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