A custom-made Fontanot staircase connects the two floors of the
flagship Scavolini store on West Broadway 429, Soho District, New
York. The Fontanot staircase, designed by the American architectural
studio Space Architects, blends two traditional quality materials:
steel and glass.
Each tread is made up of four 10 mm thick layers of toughened
of colour with an amazing visual effect. A stainless steel handrail
adorns the toughened glass railings.
Stainless steel is ever more widely used in the building sector
because of its noteworthy characteristics: resistance to
corrosion, ease of cleaning, inalterability over time and its high
structural qualities. Stainless steels have a chemical composition
that includes at least 10.5% chrome. This allows self-passivation,
meaning the spontaneous formation of a protective film against
oxidation thus making the material resistant to corrosion.
The stainless steels we use to make our products are AISI 304
and AISI 316. The latter guarantees maximum resistance also
in aggressive outdoor environments. The most important aspects
the designer can take into account in selecting stainless steel
are the tenacity even at low temperatures, reduced maintenance,
resistance to fire, a long life and recyclability.
The glass we use in our structures is toughened by means
of a special treatment that exalts its characteristics.
The glass is heated to temperatures between 600°C and
650°C and then abruptly cooled. This process allows obtaining
permanent compression of the glass, which guarantees
higher resistance to mechanical and thermal stress and also
considerably reduces the risk of shattering from thermal shock.
Should toughened glass shatter, it breaks up into small and
harmless particles so that, in some cases, it can be deemed
anti-injury glass according to the UNI EN 12600 standards
Click here to go to Fontanot's website - http://bit.ly/qH3Xiu