The Stair House | NAKO Design

Drawing inspiration from Ron Thom’s multidimensional floor plans, this angular Edmonton home was designed by our client—an accomplished architect—for his own family. Collaborating over four years, we crafted interiors that balance openness and intimacy while dissolving boundaries between indoors and out.

Behind a modest yet brutalist brick façade, the below-grade entry sets a cocoon-like tone with charcoal-painted walls and slatted wood. From here, a sculptural “metal tulip” stair—rising through four levels—acts as both handrail and art piece, unfolding elegantly in contrast to the warm wood plinths it rests upon. We begin the maze upwards through the split levels passing through a serene family room.

At the third level, a concrete plinth anchors another waterfall wood stair with a powder-coated metal screen. Inspired by musical strings, the corded metal extends full height to the ceiling above creating connection between upper spaces. It is on this lower level we see a library, two bedrooms with adjoining ensuites, and a powder room. Each ensuite was treated as yin and yang with high contrasting black and white schemes.

The third stair, dividing dining and living areas, unites the home’s key materials: suspended wood, metal, and shoji-style panels—reappearing as an oversized skylight in the penthouse primary suite.

Navigating complex geometries and varying ceiling heights, we composed a cohesive narrative of texture and tone: black-stained wood, white oak, stone, concrete, and metal. Throughout, refined restraint defines the atmosphere—culminating in serene bathrooms layered with green Japanese tile, blown glass lighting, and concealed pivot doors.