Somerset House East Wing

I  finally got round to visiting the refurbished East Wing recently, and was able to have a quick look at the central staircase for the first time. It is really elegant – over six floors. The treads are plain rectangles in cross-section up to the ground floor, then continue with a swept soffit. Like the other staircases in Somerset House there are some very nicely detailed transitions between the flights and landings and half landings.

It was a shame to see a few poorly matched repairs to some of the treads and an odd downstand along the edge of the stone landing.

Original design by William Chambers (1723 – 1796)