What do you do when you have tons of free time and a fervent wish to see something pretty above your kitchen window? Build a landscale model out of plywood and fill it up with over 700 miniature lights. Ryan Hoagland spent 5 months of this life building the picture you see above, just so he could look out at the Manhattan skyline while washing the dishes. See how he did it.

Looking at this library staircase makes me feel all studious and smart. An architect mentioned to create a staircase which stores books at the same time. Great use of a skylight to infuse the staircase with reading light… although I think looking for books can be a little pain in the ass eventually.

We created a ‘secret’ staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client’s desire for a library to form a ‘library staircase’ in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books. With a skylight above lighting the staircase, it becomes the perfect place to stop and browse a tome. The stair structure was designed as an upside down ‘sedan chair’ structure (with Rodrigues Associates, Structural Engineers, London) that carries the whole weight of the stair and books back to the main structural walls of the building. It dangles from the upper floor thereby avoiding any complicated neighbour issues with the floors below.