{"id":533195,"date":"2025-10-28T12:08:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533195\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:08:23","slug":"fortum-mason-has-revealed-the-biggest-change-in-20-years-to-its-london-flagship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533195\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortum & Mason Has Revealed The Biggest Change In 20 Years To Its London Flagship"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one thing that screams grandeur, it\u2019s a double-helix staircase. The original double spiralling staircase was designed by\u00a0Leonardo da Vinci for\u00a0the\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau de Chambord, and there\u2019s one in the Vatican too. Now, London has a brand-new double-helix, and it\u2019s in a very swanky department store.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortnum and Mason<\/a> has just revealed its most ambitious architectural project in more than 20 years.\u00a0Fortnum\u2019s Piccadilly flagship has installed an intertwining staircase of its own, designed with Ben Pentreath Studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s original concept, the three-storey structure intertwines two staircases like strands of DNA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Double-helix
\nPhotograph: Fortnum & Mason <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Piccadilly shop\u2019s staircase was hand-built in Sussex and took two years to complete. It was built in sections and then assembled inside the store. Now finished, it features more than 3,000 hand-forged details, each hand-cast by a master blacksmith. It also comprises timber steps and risers, discreet lighting in the handrails, and plasterwork. The design was modelled in 3D to achieve complete precision, ensuring a seamless fit within the historic building.<\/p>\n

\"Double-helix
\nPhotograph: Fortnum & Mason <\/p>\n

What makes a double helix staircase so special, you might be wondering? As well as being a feat in engineering, it creates an almost optical illusion. In appearance, these staircases appear to be a single structure, but in reality they are made of two separate ramps which snake around each other.<\/p>\n

\"Double-helix
\nPhotograph: Fortnum & Mason <\/p>\n

Architectural designer, Ben Pentreath, said, \u2018It has been a privilege to work with Fortnum & Mason on such a rare and ambitious project. The double helix staircase is at once a technical marvel and a deeply human piece of design, marrying engineering precision with craft at the highest level. Our aim has been to create a structure that feels timeless, one that restores architectural integrity to the store while also delivering beauty and joy for the millions who pass through its doors each year.\u2019<\/p>\n

Talk about shopping in style.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New images show what a pedestrianised Soho could look like<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The huge shopping centre near London that has just won a major award<\/a>.\u00a0
<\/strong><\/p>\n

G<\/strong>et the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke \u2013 from news and reviews to events and trends. Just\u00a0<\/strong>follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up for our\u00a0<\/strong>free Time Out London newsletter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there\u2019s one thing that screams grandeur, it\u2019s a double-helix staircase. The original double spiralling staircase was designed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,57569,393,4884,257,57570,246,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-533195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-categories-shopping","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-news-shopping-style","14":"tag-shopping","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115451718193190424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}