One of my favorite things in the world is stumbling across a design that’s both creative yet so painfully obvious, it makes me wonder why nobody thought of it before. A staircase handrail serves two important purposes. It A. acts as a barrier between flights of stairs, so you don’t accidentally fall over and hurt yourself, and B. more importantly, it gives you a resting platform for your hands, allowing you to take support as you climb down. Here’s my question. What if you could reinterpret the word ‘support’ as something that’s more encompassing and isn’t limited to one’s hands?

The Rest For A While staircase turns portions of the handrail into a resting zone for people who get tired of climbing flights of stairs. At the landing of every flight of stairs, the handrail extends downward into a makeshift seat with a backrest, allowing senior citizens or people with disabilities to take a short break from climbing long flights of stairs. It’s a simple solution that, in the absence of elevators, gives people a well-deserved moment of respite to regather energy for the next flight of stairs.

The ‘Rest For A While’ Staircase Handrail is a winner of the iF Design Award for the year 2020.

Designer: Shenzhen Jinwei Innovation Design Company