Dog-leg (stairs)

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Dog-leg is a term used to describe a configuration of stairs between two floors of a building, often a domestic building, in which there are two short flights at 180 degrees to each other, joined by a half-landing to enable the 180 degree turn. The flights do not have to be equal, and frequently are not.

Structurally the flights of a dog-leg stair are usually supported by the half-landing, which spans the adjoining flank walls.

From the design point of view the main advantages of a dog-leg stair are:

• To allow an arrangement that occupies a shorter, though wider, floor area than a straight flight, and so is more compact. Even though the landings consume total floor space, there is no large single dimension
• The upper floor is not directly visible from the bottom of the stairs, thereby providing more privacy