Where Can the New Stairs Go?

Why the stairs are decided first

In most attic conversions the stair layout is agreed before the upper floor is planned in any detail. The reason is simple: the stairs consume a specific amount of floor area on the storey below, they need clear headroom top and bottom, and their landing at the top decides where every partition in the attic can be placed.

The landing is the natural starting point

Most Irish homes have a first-floor landing at the top of the existing stairs. Extending that landing upwards is often the most efficient route — it re-uses the same circulation zone twice and does not intrude into a bedroom. Whether it is possible depends on the position of the existing stair, the direction it runs and the available headroom above.

What controls the design

Headroom above the stairs

Building Regulations set a minimum headroom above the pitch line of the stairs and above the landing. In an attic where the ceiling follows the roof slope, this often means opening the roof directly above the top of the stair. Sometimes that opening is a small rooflight; sometimes it is part of a dormer.

Stair pitch, going and rise

Stairs to a habitable room must meet regulated dimensions for pitch, tread depth and rise. There is only so much these numbers can be squeezed. If the available run is too short, the answer is usually to change the direction (L-shaped or U-shaped) rather than to steepen the stair.

The room below

The stair has to arrive at a sensible point on the first floor. If the new stair starts in a bedroom, that bedroom is no longer useable as a bedroom without design changes. Where possible, the stair is designed to keep the count and utility of bedrooms intact.

Fire and escape

Adding a habitable room upstairs usually creates a protected escape route on the stairs. Doors opening onto that stair may need to be upgraded, and mains-wired interlinked smoke alarms are typically required throughout. The stair position sets the escape route, so escape planning is not an afterthought.

Common stair strategies

• Over the existing stairs. The new stair sits directly above the existing one and shares the landing. Efficient where headroom above allows it.
• Off the landing at right angles. The new stair leaves the existing landing at 90 degrees, sometimes borrowing a small strip from a bedroom.
• From a bedroom. Where the layout gives no other option, the new stair rises from a redesigned bedroom. This usually reduces the effective bedroom count downstairs.
• Reversed stair. The existing stair is rebuilt in reverse, freeing a run for the new stair above. Rare, but occasionally the cleanest answer.

What we do not decide on drawings alone

A sensible sketch layout is usually possible after a home survey. The exact stair — its structure, handrails, balustrade and how it integrates with fire doors and alarms — is finalised alongside structural and Building Regulations input on your specific home.