STAIRCASE. It was not till about the time of Elizabeth that staircases began to be planned commodiously in this country, and made a decorative feature in the interior of a mansion. At a later period, staircases in mansions of a superior class were made dis proportionably spacious, being upon a scale as to size with which the apartments them selves were not at all in keeping. One of the most simple and effective, yet least common arrangements of a staircase, is that which may be described by the term Avenue Staircase, the stairs being continued in a straight.line.
though broken by spaces into a succession of flights, within what would else be a level corridor or gallery ; and occupying its entire width. Simple as such plan is in itself, it is by no means adapted to general application, because, although it requires only moderate width, it requires considerable length, short flights, and ample spaces between them, and stairs with low risers and broad treads. In public edifices or large mansions, whatever be the plan of the principal staircase, it is gene rally branched, that is, there is first a wide central flight, and then two other narrower flights branching off from it on each side, either at right angles to it, or as return flights parallel to it; and it is hardly necessary to observe that in all such staircases the foot spaces are large and there are no winders.
The staircase at Goldsmiths' Hall, which is parted off from the vestibule by a glazed screen, is an example of more than ordinary splendour, being lighted by a dome. The new staircase at the British Museum is also of this kind.
The grand staircase of the Reform Club House, London, is an example, somewhat unusual in this country, though common enough in Italy, of what may be called an Enclosed Staircase. The flights are shut up between walls, and consequently there is no open well, nor can the whole be seen at one view.
The architectural effect of a stab 'ease will greatly depend upon the mode of lighting it. Where it is carried up only one floor, the best mode is to light it entirely from above, either through a dome or lantern in the ceiling, or by making the upper part of the walls, just beneath the ceiling, a continued lantern.