Upstairs and Downstairs and in my Lady's chamber

Strange Angles in the Peterson Bldg.

Not quite the Mendel

Okay, the bit about the "lady's chamber" was an outright fabrication, but you're here... so that's good.

Before I get into the pictures, a quick update on my stair running. This week I've bested my records at both the 5T and 10T times (where T=11 floors up and down). 5T stands at 15m08s and 10T is 32m30s. 10T took me about 55 minutes the first time.

On with the photos...

Picked a freakishly cold day to do some more stair explorations. Neither my trusty, if aging, Pentax K-x, nor my trusty, if aging, body had an easy time with the -30C wind chill. After getting politely kicked out of the Agri-Food Canada Research building (I had been inside looking at maps for several minutes without "checking in" at the security desk),  Found +Kent Pollard,s Peterson Bldg. I must say, the staff was a whole lot nicer there.

A bit off the beaten path but, the stairs were unusual as promised! Got quite a few comments while laying on my back in the small entryway. Also, doors were In a pretty bad place for tripod work. Fortunately, it was plenty bright. Never would have gone in there without the tip off. I was told by a wonderful maintenance woman that there had once been talk of the stairs being completely refinished, but it had been decided against due to the prohibitive cost. Too bad. The brass inlay on the landings would've been fantastic completely re-burnished.

I've now talked to no less than four maintenance people while working on this project. Each one of them has expressed an apology over the dirty state of the stairs and assured me that they normally look much nicer. I've always been careful to express that I think the stairs look absolutely beautiful in their natural state. That usually elicits a furrowed set of eyebrows followed by them awkwardly blushing and glancing away.

Agriculture's stairs and elevators co-habitating. So wrong!

I love the commons area in The Agriculture Building. It is an open and inviting place for people to meet. The architecture is interesting and there is art and light everywhere. My only complaint is that the central stairwell only goes from the 1st to 2nd floor. If you want to go higher, it's the elevators or a closed off side stairwell.

Engineering - C Wing

Favorite stairwell of the day goes to Engineering (C-wing, I think). Nice hardwood rails and a good quality of light. 

My growing stair collection...