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i answered NO WAY! ...acrophobe right here.

I'd be bothered more by the constant cleaning than anything else.

Nice thought...but I think may be a problem for the ladies. I like to wear skirts.

Im with closertotheocean...NO WAYYYY!

I cant imagine those stairs being fun for someone with vertigo.

freakin a!! i got weirded out by even looking at the pitcure. the skirt/dress thing is an issue...but my real problem lies in acrophobia. yeeks!

Maybe if they were frosted. It would still let light in.

I like the look. I don't, however, like walking up glass stairs while wearing skirts.

guess no skirts will be worn in that building.

Not only problematic for skirts, but heels as well - too slippery and dangerous. And couldn't be in an area that was remotely earthquake-prone.

The Apple store in SF has had an all glass staircase for years - no problem...
...however, Holland America's new Noordam has a glass staircase in their atrium (supported by a brass-plated armature) - someone slipped and fell on it the day of the christening in New York so now it's never used while the ship is at sea.

The article says the steps support "a 300 pound person" - that seems like too little margin for error to me.

I mean, I'm tiny, but I could probably generate 300# of force if I were to fall down the stairs.... And it's all well and good that it's tempered, but the fact that it just breaks into tiny pieces doesn't exactly prevent the falling part!

If it were stronger, though, I'd totally want these. They're beautiful.

If it gets wet and you slip and fall that could be a nasty tumble!
I'm in the skirt-wearing camp, too. I'm not using those stairs -- no freakin' way.

I walk around the house barefoot, so this is wrong for me for so many reasons--use your imagination.

I don't know what is NOT wrong with this idea. Too high-maintenance, dangerous when wet, the edges at least must be chippable, difficult to replace/repair, disorienting, and cold.

I break into a cold sweat just looking at those stairs.

if it were one or two flights of stairs i wouldn't have a problem with it. however, if it were more than that i would be freaked out. everyone brings up good points of how dangerous they could be plus the whole skirt thing. it's a neat idea, just not very practical.

Could you put a runner rug on it and still have the same effect???

At least then you'd be able to see more clearly where your foot is going to land.
Yikes!

The photo looks cool but, yeah, this is nonsense to me on so many levels. I just don't understand this use of glass, much like I don't understand mirror-topped coffeetables. I don't need someone looking up my skirt or my nose.

At home? Sure. It would be cool, and I like glass stairways. They don't feel unstable or flimsy at all.

But no way at work. I wear skirt suits pretty much every day, and that would just not fly.

I've got an Annie Lennox song running through my mind..."Walkin' on, walkin' on broken glass".

I love that many of the ladies immediately shouted "what about skirts?!?"....something that was not mentioned at all in the article. But if you are at home and have to worry about someone looking up your skirt...something is not right.

The cleaning would be a huge issue. Lots of windex needed.

Yeah, I love light wells but this is not practical. I can think of situations where you would be at home and worrying about folks looking up your skirt, aaron. Large parties of people (if you entertain at all) and repair/service folks being present. Some instances may be unintentional, but even so I think it would be unwelcome in most instances. I know right off that I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of thinking about what I'm wearing and who may or may not be present when I want to go up the stairs.

The success of a structural glass staircase and other structural glass components, such as catwalks, bridges, floor skylights, etc. depend heavily on how they are designed. A well designed staircase like the Soho Apple Store, has treads and employs sandblasted glass, which eliminate stair safety and privacy issues while delivering on the advantages of having one: greater light transmission into or through a space.

Keep in mind that a forrunner of todays structural staircase and other glass components is the glass block ceilinged sidewalk vault you likely walk over every day.

Aesthetics should not trump safety/ functionality -- if this is in a home, it's a wet-footed wipe-out waiting to happen.

aaron - some of us have teenaged sons.

my 16-year-old doesn't need that view. I don't have enough quarters in the therapy jar for that one.

;)

I'm surprised the peeping tom issue was never considered!

I've seen pics of a house in London with a glass floored garage; it was an elevator dealie where two cars could be parked and part used as a living room.

It wasn't done by Tim who is totally Brilliant - he has done a lot of structural glass. Such as a greenhouse addition with NO metal supports and radiant heat coatings on the glass (thermopane type glazing).

Glass is, suprisingly, stronger in compression than concrete, making it a good material for things like stairs, it's just the shattering issue...

i have to vomit just looking at the picture and thinking about the stairs. vertigo kickin' in!

Maybe i'm missing something, but it seems to me the solution to the skirt issue is quite simple- not having access to the area immediately under the stairs. (easily done). unless you are looking straight up, I can't imagine much under-skirtage going on.

um, they've had to block off stairs in the NYC subway for this reason because there were tiny grates/holes in the risers of the stairs. I've seen guys standing at the railing, because it hasn't solved the problem. I've also seen people getting there kicks in the apple store many a time. It can be pretty pervy...almost as much as the new security/body scanning machines in the NY airports (same ones installed in phoenix), zexy...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/airport_xray_scanner.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/2007/10/07-week/&h=331&w=400&sz=35&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=Er3e5tuB7Yv7UM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnyc%2Bsecurity%2Bscanner%2Bairport%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

I'm planning to implement not just glass stairs but a glass floor for my as-yet unbuilt second-floor loft.

Remind me to wear my Sunday-best knickers under my skirt.