Stair tower safety nets, Third Space, Udaipur

Third Space, a science centre in Udaipur designed by Studio SAAR, has three spiral stairs that rise in towers. The towers needed fall protection that would not close off light and views, and that would be safe for the children who use the building. Acier designed, supplied and installed Jakob Webnet nets for all three.

A spiral stair is a difficult shape to protect. The edge curves and rises at the same time, so flat panels of glass or mesh would need many small facets and joints. The stair is also a vertical space, where a fall could be from height, so the protection has to be continuous, with no gaps where the net meets the structure. On this job the building was still being built when the nets were designed, and there were no complete drawings to work from.

Acier built a 3D model of each tower to design the nets before the structure was finished, then adjusted the design to the variations found on site. A framework of stainless ropes is formed around each tower and fixed to the structure, and the Webnet is laced to it.

The mesh is Jakob Webnet in Ø2 mm stainless rope with a 60 mm mesh width, the same as the gallery railings in the building. Webnet is flexible, so it can be tensioned into curved and twisting surfaces and wraps each tower as one continuous net rather than a series of panels. The three towers took about three months on site.

The spiral stairs are now enclosed by fine stainless nets that protect anyone using them while keeping the towers open to light and views. From inside, the net reads as a light screen; from outside, each stair stays visible as a sculptural element. The site film shows a net in place. See also the Webnet railings in the same building.