{"id":129352,"date":"2025-11-11T09:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/129352\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:56:15","slug":"the-next-step-fortnum-mason-unveils-pioneering-double-helix-staircase-in-new-chapter-for-its-piccadilly-flagship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/129352\/","title":{"rendered":"The next step: Fortnum &#038; Mason unveils pioneering \u2018double helix\u2019 staircase in new chapter for its Piccadilly flagship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The connections with the crown continued (Queen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/victoria\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victoria<\/a> personally sent Fortnum &amp; Mason supplies to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/florence\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florence<\/a> Nightingale during the Crimean War), and in 1910, the company received its first royal warrant. It now holds two: one from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/king-charles-iii\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">King Charles III<\/a> and one from Queen Camilla.<\/p>\n<p>For centuries, Fortnum&#8217;s products have been on the frontline of extraordinary human endeavours; packed in the backpacks of mountaineers scaling Everest and explorers charting the depths of the world&#8217;s wildest jungles. More recently, the store has branched out from its flagship at 181 Piccadilly, with a new outpost at London\u2019s historic centre of trade, The Royal Exchange, opening in 2018, and the first international standalone restaurant and shop unveiled in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/hong-kong\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hong Kong<\/a> the following year.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The spectacular double helix staircase has just opened at the heart of the store in time for Christmas\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/_DSF9769.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The spectacular double helix staircase has just opened at the heart of the store in time for Christmas<\/p>\n<p>TIMOTHY SOAR<\/p>\n<p>Now Fortum&#8217;s is marking the unveiling of an exciting new addition to its five-storey flagship at 181 Piccadilly: a striking double helix staircase designed by royal-approved architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath. Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci&#8217;s vision for a double helix staircase, the pioneering design <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/features\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">features<\/a> two intertwined staircases that ribbon their way from the lower ground to the second floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It has been a privilege to work with Fortnum &amp; Mason on such a rare and ambitious project,\u2019 said Pentreath, whose portfolio includes work at Dumfries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/house\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">House<\/a> and for Poundbury, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tatler.com\/topic\/dorset\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dorset<\/a> community backed by King Charles III. \u2018The 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\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The connections with the crown continued (Queen Victoria personally sent Fortnum &amp; Mason supplies to Florence Nightingale during&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,337,111,139,69,1249,1251],"class_list":["post-129352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-textaboveleftsmall","tag-web"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}