'O' is for open-stair design, one of C. Emlen Urban's staircase styles [architecture column] (2024)

THE ARCHITECT'S ALPHABET, PART 15:
'O' IS FOR OPEN-STAIR DESIGN

The Architects’ Alphabet is a 26-part series describing design elements featured in Gregory J. Scott’s new book, “Urban Legend, The Life & Legacy of C. Emlen Urban,” Lancaster’s most renowned architect. Photos for the book, which is available ategganddartbooks.com, are by Matthew Tennison.

C. Emlen Urban’s father, Amos Sylvester Urban, was a carpenter by trade. In 1873, he relocated his family of seven from Conestoga Square to 544 S. Queen St. to open a planing mill a few blocks away on South Prince Street to fabricate doors, windows, shutters, wood trim, moldings and stairs. His vocation provided young C. Emlen with an opportunity to observe and appreciate the art and beauty of millwork fabrication.

In addition to designing building exteriors, Urban would go on to design the interiors of his commissions with exquisite and exacting detail, including staircases with balusters, handrails and complex compound curves.

An open-stair design is one that extends the tread beyond the wall below and provides an opportunity to apply architectural ornament below each tread. With a closed stair, the tread is contained within the “stringer” and does not project beyond the wall below. Urban employed both styles and applied them with equal attention to design creativity and detail. Urban’s examples of open stairs include his residential designs for J. Calvin Schutte, a 1906 Edwardian Eclectic; Herman A. Wohlsen, a 1922 Tudor Revival; the Lancaster Municipal Building, a 1932 Neoclassical interior; and John H. Swanger, a 1937 Colonial Revival.

Urban employed different decorative stringer appliques on each example: a picture-frame box, a raised block and a traditional scroll.

Urban’s examples of closed-stair design include his work for Jonas B. Martin, a 1886 Queen Anne; Peter T. Watt, a 1897 Chateauesque; Stevens Girls School, a 1903 French Renaissance; and Grace Lutheran Church, a 1906 Gothic Revival. Urban’s ability to understand and master the nuisances of these eight different and diverse design styles and apply them to the complexities of stair construction is quite extraordinary.

How did Urban master so many different stair designs?

We suspect as a young boy, he spent time in his father’s planning mill studying the many reference books made available to him. His personal signature is found in an 1874 technical manual on stair design.

Are open stairs more common in residential design?

Yes, residential designs offer the architect more freedom to experiment with design appliques as evidenced in the Schutte and Swanger homes.

What materials are most common for treads?

Hardwoods such as oak and maple are most common for residential stairs. Marble, terrazzo and granite are most common for civic and other public-use buildings as seen in the Stevens School and the Municipal Building.

This column is contributed by Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, a local architect with 50 years of national experience in innovation and design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Email GScott@rlps.com.