It’s always nice to be a part of a revitalization effort like that found in Norwich in recent years. To watch an area grow and flourish, understanding you serve as an essential building block in a process that can invigorate a community. I’ve done all kinds of jobs since my initial “step” as it were into the world of being a tradesman, but none have offered the complexity and challenge provided by stairs. And nowhere is the puzzle aspect I so appreciate in this craft more forefront than when the introduction of stairs finds itself in concert with a well founded restoration effort, myself placed firmly in the role of conductor.
A lot of people, specifically customers, find this passion for what seems like such a small aspect of a much bigger picture curious when I explain my love for stairs and the difference they make in any form when done right. They perhaps nod, not quite knowing what to do with the clear enthusiasm I radiate for the subject. I am not unfamiliar with the beginnings of a sort of slow trail off as I wax poetic about whatever project I might be working on at the time. They simply don’t see what I do...well that is, until I ask them to.
Step 1: Invite Them
The weapon here is always the same. I invite them. I ask them to close their eyes and imagine any place they ever entered. Was it not the stairs you noticed first in your homes’ opening entryway? Was it not the stairs you took note of as they spiraled up from the middle of the room to the mysterious second floor of your favorite new restaurant? Do we not all imagine the adjoining winding grand staircases when we think of that perfect high society moment of entering a beautiful venue?
But the vision aspect is only a part of it. Now comes the introduction of the psychological inherent in stairs. When you step on any stair, at any time, in any place, you immediately gauge your surroundings. Our brains send instant feedback causing us to take inventory in a manner most aspects of a structure simply don’t. We ascertain a sense of trust in its sturdiness, we find a sense of safety in its layout, we establish character in its feel, we see completion in its tie in, we find peace in its lack of a distinctive creak, and we judge its engineering in our completed ascent. We have no real credentials to do any of it, but we do so instinctively and instantaneously. It is at this point they usually get IT. It’s also at this point they share their own respective vision with me. More detailed and more understood as a result.
Step 2: Enlist Them
Now we are introduced into the dance of cooperative exchange. It is here we cement a knowing partnership. Often this idea comes down to a simple distilled notion. Listen. Then apply experience. Then listen again. Rinse and repeat. Alot.
In the case of Harp and Dragon a seemingly simple ask was being made. Create a staircase that ties in with the historical structure, offers access to a second sort of private party floor, meets the obvious requirements of a great set of stairs in structure and quality and connects through an entryway to an existing door.
I took their vision as I do, and applied experience. I provided drawings, discussed the project at length and came away with a single definitive conclusion I was less than eager to share. We had a problem.
Step 3: Assess the Task
At hand and be very, very patient It turns out based on my drawings and my aforementioned years of experience that this task was not going to be nearly as simple as my clients seemed to believe it would be. The two openings as designed simply did not line up. In fact they were about ten inches off. And no matter which way they tried to mentally manipulate the initially offered idea wasn’t going to work.
And so, I told the day manager. Then when prompted, relayed my findings to the night manager. Who then requested I speak to the owner, who directed me to explain such to the development company. All of whom found my assessment very difficult to believe until the very moment they were confronted with its real world application. The point of this step being that assessment is a process, and no attribute is perhaps more useful in its exploration than an abundance of patience. Patience found I believe only when you put your clients vision and needs above your own organically.
Step 4: Solve the Puzzle and Slay The Dragon
I love puzzles. It’s another reason I am drawn to the trade of stairs as I mentioned earlier. Part of me believes this penchant for puzzle solving is one that is embedded in our DNA. Various computer and video games incorporate them into their framework, appealing to all ages. The need to solve a puzzle to me goes as far back as to the basic questions of necessity with regard to our ancestors and the catalytic prompt that was essentially: solve for food. Most of our most fulfilling moments I believe, particularly those in our professional life, come via our ability to solve for x.
To me, solving for x comes down to two simple ideas. Your toolkit and your instincts. In my time as a stairman, I’ve found it necessary to employ a multitude of both. I utilize my psychology degree to navigate client relations. I use my engineering know how to navigate the tricky, I use my experience in the trade to understand things sometimes before they are even consciously known to myself through instinct. Like the body when it works out, there is a natural sort of recruitment that occurs when I approach a problem, each fiber working in tandem to overcome the issue at hand. This job required more than a few.
But, eventually we found a way to navigate our way through the pitfalls described. My background in psychology served me in truly hearing my clients and understanding their patrons’ experience. The entryway was able to be expanded to the requisite ten inches allowing the two openings to line up seamlessly. My engineering knowledge and years of experience offered practical solutions in real time to a difficult problem. The issue of working during work hours as people milled about around us was overcome. The stairs themselves were installed as described, beautifully tying in with the historical architecture that surrounded them drawing on my aptitude to offer exceptional craftsmanship.
The work was fulfilling. The puzzle was solved. The Harp and Dragon was slayed. And another building block was added to the tapestry of an emerging Norwich revitalization effort. And I sit here looking back with a sense of pride in solving for x. All in all, another project, well done.
