Entrance Width

Things are slowly moving into the starting phase for us, and I am still a bit uncertain about the entrance area regarding the entrance width and the design of the stair railing. According to the plan, the passage width between the utility room and the stairs is currently about 129 cm. Our construction supervisor suggested that the stair railing facing the entrance door be built with a slant. However, this would reduce the passage width by approximately 13 cm, so in the end, we would only have about 115 cm left. Of course, the wall is not full room height (1.10 m high at the end of the stairs, up to just over 2 m directly at the exterior wall), and on the opposite side is the wardrobe – still, I am afraid that a bottleneck will be created here. If we place the railing on the stairs, the stairs would accordingly become narrower, and we would have to take care of that. I am grateful for your input.

Is it a concrete staircase? If so, a railing would probably be installed on the outside here as well, because 1. it is more expensive to install a construction on the concrete staircase and 2. the stair width is reduced, as you yourself have already mentioned. We currently have the same "problem" from the upper floor to the attic. We will now solve everything with glass, as it is cheaper and does not reduce the stair width. But for you, it’s only about the short passage and not the entire hallway. I would have it walled up. We have that on the ground floor too, and I personally like it better than a conventional railing.

Hello Milkie, yes exactly - a tiled concrete staircase. Thanks for the input. That is also currently the solution I would find best - although with some construction concerns - I can hardly imagine it. Alternatively, one could also move the wall of the utility room - but then both the utility room and the wardrobe space would be smaller.

Transparency is better. Whether glass or muntins ...

I agree with that. I wouldn't build a wall there either. I think an entrance area should feel inviting, open, and bright, just like a hallway. If you wall it off, it becomes a somewhat dark, narrow tunnel.

And with a width of 1.30 meters, even 15 cm make a difference. At the front door, you receive guests, sometimes have long chats when saying goodbye, put on rain gear for yourself and the children (and then take it off dirty and wet), the children put on rollerblades along with full-body padding, you accept parcels, put down groceries, carry furniture through, and maybe even have to carry a child with a casted leg through. I would try everything to ease the bottleneck as much as possible.

We just reenacted it again with boxes in our apartment - a bit exhausting since we had to move some furniture - but even with a simulated wall and thus a 1.14 m passage, it didn't feel cramped and three people could still move around. Whether we ultimately decide on a prefabricated glass wall or the wall is still open.