However, the world is never this simple and within interior design circles, stairs are undoubtedly a focal point for a feature, lending gravitas and strength to a building’s visual authority. From great British stately homes to modernist or cubist designs in the 20th Century, staircases across the Western world have reflected our changing tastes and eclectic decisions to turn home improvement into an art form.

Here are three of the World’s most challenging sets of stairs in terms of design and structure:

1.      Chand Baori Step Well

First up is this incredible step well in India in the village of Chand Baori, built to solve the problem of providing locals with a dependable source of fresh water. And, whilst this certainly isn’t a Modernist projection of a 20th Century ideology, it certainly is an incredible project which combines engineering, of design and of functionality.

2.      Deconstructible Staircase from Wood

In an age where architects and designers need to be aware of the strengthening arguments for making recycling and reusable constructions in the same way that manufacturers of packaging have needed to do to satiate the requirements of consumers for environmentally friendly products.

Chilean architect Alberto Mozó has designed a ‘deconstructible’ staircase which, as is the rest of building, is able to be taken down in pieces and reassembled in a new location. Made from laminated timbers, this staircase could outlast those that are permanently fixed due to its ability to be taken out of harm’s way in the event of flooding or some other natural or manmade disaster.

3.      Stairs for Small Spaces

One of the most common problems that city-dwellers find is that they have less space in their homes than those who live elsewhere. This has implications on how homes with less space are designed, including staircases.

There are several ingenious methods and designs which architects have employed to solve this problem. One of these is the exceedingly functional bookshelf staircase found in a London flat near Battersea courtesy of Levitate Architects.

These examples go to show that no matter what issues need addressing when building a set of stairs, whether ideological or practical, architects and designers of stairs and staircases have usually been able to provide a solution of one sort or another whilst maintaining the integrity of a commercial property or home.

Peter Samson is interested in unusual buildings, architectural design and interior decoration, who understands the needs of stairs manufacturers to contemplate the various needs and requirements of today’s modern constructions.

Early Life

This famous English architect was born in the unassuming town of Sale, then part of Cheshire, in 1938. After high school he enrolled at Newcastle University, where he completed his undergraduate degree, which was followed by a Masters in urban planning at Pennsylvania Universiy. Farrell moved to London in 1965 where his career really started to pick up with his partnership with Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, another famous UK architect. His most famous early works include the TV-am headquarters (now MTV Europe), which highlighting his distinct postmodern style, as well as the Comyn Ching Triangle redevelopment in Covent Garden.

Later Works

In 1980 he established his own company, Terry Farrell and Partners under which he completed many regeneration projects in London as well as the United Kingdom. Underpinning all of these projects is his acute understanding of London’s organic development. His argument is that London has developed in a more unplanned or organic way as opposed to following a master development plan like cities such as Paris. Unlike most architects who attempt to tidy up the City with new ideas that are foreign to the City’s current existence, London’s famous architect works with this random and haphazard formation. He was also involved in many regeneration projects around the UK, including Newcastle, Edinburgh and Paddington, to name but a few. Hiw work is often in demand internationally; he developed Incheon airport in South Korea and Beijing South Railway Station, the biggest station in Asia. His most recent project is the regeneration of Earls Court, where he has proposed the building of ‘villages’ around the Tube stations and exhibition centre.

Winner of numerous awards such as the Civic Trust Award, RIBA National Award and British Council Award, advisor to the Mayor of London, and shaper of London’s urban Landscape, famous architect Terry Farrell truly deserves to be named a London influential.

Penny Munroe is an avid writer in property news from around the world and is based in the serviced offices Mayfair offers. She specialises in commercial property and offices for rent.

Many retailers these days fortunately are doing all that they can to help their customers recycle. This is because they understand the importance of recycling and want to help as many people to do so as they can.

Read the Label

For instance, many DIY products and tools from different hardware stores now feature on-pack recycling labels that clearly say what can be recycled and where. Some paint manufacturers will allow paint pots to be given back to the original store where they were bought from in order to ensure that empty paint pots are recycled and disposed of safely.

Choose Goods with Sustainable Packaging

Many other retailers have attempted to reduce packaging on many items and DIY tools or change the type of packaging that is used – for example changing plastic packaging to cardboard packaging. Some specialist stores may offer recycling schemes for old products when a brand new one is purchased such as vacuum cleaners, beds and washing machines.

Recycle

Although many retailers are now making a large effort in order to encourage their customers to recycle the onus is still with each and every individual to recycle as much as they can. For larger home projects it is wise to find local recycling centres that will take any large household items for recycling. For instance, one of the most popular DIY projects to undertake is a bathroom renovation. In this example it would be a wise course of action for the homeowner to find a local recycling centre that will take care of bathtubs, ceramic toilets and sinks and other bathroom accessories for safe recycling using the correct tools.

Energy Efficiency

When renovating parts of the home it may also be wise to look for energy efficient ways to replace the older existing units. For example, when undergoing a bathroom refit, it would save water and help the environment if a dual flushing toilet were purchased and installed.

Many sinks now come with flow restricting taps and other water-saving features in order to help households to save water and save the environment. It is important that each and every homeowner constantly looks for new ways in which they can recycle their old waste. Calling up your local council can give an indication of what materials are recycled locally and where larger household items can be taken for recycling schemes.

With large retailers, stores and customers all working together we can secure a better future for us and our children but we need to take one step at a time in order to clean up the world and one of the first steps we can take is through doing our bit and recycling.

This post was written by James Harper on behalf of Tool Orders how supply Teng Tools. James is a DIY enthusiast with an interest in green issues and sustainability.

Strength – as many people know, farms are busy places with all types of activities going on at the same time. In addition to planting, farm animals of different types are also kept. Managing all these activities at the same time requires excellent time management as well as proper farm fencing to keep every activity in its proper place. The fences that hold in animals must be strong enough to handle animal interference of any type. Since animal behavior cannot be predicted, the fences should be resilient enough to hold each of the different farm animals within their separate paddocks so that work can be easier, faster and less dangerous.

Flexible – many farms are very dynamic and depend on the requirements of their current owners. Their use therefore, keeps changing over time. Previously erected farm enclosures must be able to become adaptable to the many uses that are required of them. They must also be multipurpose in terms of overall functionality. This means that, even if the farm activities may change over time, the farm enclosures should be able to easily adjust to the new requirements in the shortest time possible.

Quickly mountable – depending on the current need of the farmer, farm enclosures may require to be realigned. This is done so as to create new pathways and farm gates so that work becomes more efficient. The job of erecting farm enclosures can be completed very quickly as long as the fences can be installed in a short time. These types of fences are usually fully fabricated at the factory and the only job required of the farmer is to establish the points at which they will be affixed. Once up, these fences are immediately usable.

Electrified – because of the random and unexpected behavior of many farm animals, farm enclosures cannot be dormant, but must to a certain extent, be electrified. This discourages the more aggressive animals from trying to escape. It also discourages them from destroying the fence. The amount of power surging through the fence is not normally strong enough to harm the animal but is strong enough to keep it from coming near the fence enough to cause wanton destruction.

Environmentally friendly – in our current environmentally ravaged world, the best solutions are those that preserve the natural beauty and robustness of the environment. Farm enclosures that do not erode their natural surroundings are more preferable because they do not create adverse effects onto their environment that will be felt for years to come.

Rex Underhill is a structural engineer working within the construction industry. He helps his clients to design cost effective solutions for general home improvement. His solutions also include long lasting farm fencing and light weight farm gates for use on progressive farms.

In smaller workshops, where hand-tools are used more regularly, the amount of saw dust build-up is likely easy to manage with good housekeeping and a thorough sweep about at the end of the day. But in larger workspaces, where machinery is used more and machine vents blow air about quickly, it is much easier to produce vast quantities of wood waste, which inevitably start to gather on all manner of surfaces. No amount of cleaning or sweeping will keep the air free of dust particles, so what do you do? Invest in a dust extraction system, of course. But wait! You can’t just pick any dust extractor- you need to make sure it’s the right one for your workshop.

How Do I Pick An Industrial Dust Extractor?

Before you invest in a workshop dust extraction system, you need to think about your workshop environment. Do I create large chippings? Do I create fine dust? If your workshop creates a lot of large chippings as a result of machines such as planers and moulders, then you will probably need to buy a dust extractor which has a low pressure level and high flow rate. Conversely, if you generate finer dust particles, for example with sanders, then you’ll probably be better suited with an extraction system which has a high pressure level and low flow rate.

Low pressure extractors have a twin bag with an impeller. The impeller blows dust particles and other waste into the lower sack and traps bigger dust particles in the upper bag. They are particularly good with filtering large amounts of wood waste due to their high flow rate, although they are not very good at trapping finer dust particles because of the low pressure level.

On the flip side, high pressure filters are much more suited to processing air littered with finer dust particles. This is because they use a vacuum to suck the air through filters, which separates the debris. The process is very similar to the way your domestic vacuum cleaner works, although it is never advisable to use such equipment in an industrial setting.

So, if you’re considering investing in a dust extraction system, consider carefully your workshop arrangements; the type of work you carry out; the machinery you use; and the performance you are looking to get out of it.

Dust extactrion systems are the unsng heroes of modern workshop environments, helping workers remain health and safe each and every day.