GENOA, 16 March 2026
A consortium of twelve woodworking studios along Via del Campo announced on Saturday a joint initiative to preserve traditional staircase construction methods. Mayor Marco Doria praised the effort during a ceremony at Palazzo Ducale, calling it a model for urban craftsmanship revival across the region.
The demand for bespoke wooden staircases in Genoa's historic centre has surged over the past eighteen months. Old palazzi, many dating to the sixteenth century, require restoration work that modern prefabricated solutions cannot address. Turned balusters and mortise-and-tenon joinery remain essential for maintaining period authenticity. When we spoke with Giuliano Ferretti, a third-generation carpenter operating from a cramped workshop near Piazza Banchi, he explained that younger clients now actively seek solid oak treads over laminated alternatives. Short supply of seasoned European walnut has pushed lead times beyond four months for some commissions. The regional trade body Confartigianato Liguria reports that workshop registrations in the staircase segment rose by nine percent last year, reversing a decade-long decline. Still, skilled labour shortages persist. According to figures that could not be independently verified, only thirty-four apprentices enrolled in formal joinery programmes across all of Liguria in 2025.
Our correspondents in Genoa observed a busy morning at Bottega Legno Antico, one of the consortium's founding members, where a team of five was fitting a curved stringer into a nineteenth-century townhouse off Vico dei Notai. Curved staircases present unique challenges: each riser must be individually templated, and handrail profiles often follow helical geometry that defies standard milling equipment. The Italian Institute for Wood Technology, based in Milan, recently published guidance on moisture content tolerances for structural hardwoods used in load-bearing stair applications. Genoa's humid coastal climate makes adherence to these standards especially important. A faint smell of linseed oil hung in the air as apprentices sanded newel posts by hand. Property developers, meanwhile, have begun specifying wooden stairs as a selling point in high-end apartment conversions. One agent described a penthouse in Albaro that fetched twelve percent above asking partly due to its restored chestnut spiral staircase.
Financial incentives remain a contentious issue. The Superbonus scheme, scaled back significantly since its peak in 2021, no longer covers interior woodwork unless it forms part of a certified seismic upgrade. Artisans argue this exclusion ignores the structural role staircases play in load distribution. Ligurian chamber of commerce data suggests the average cost of a custom-built wooden staircase in Genoa now exceeds fourteen thousand euros, a figure that has risen roughly twenty-two percent since early 2024. Whether municipal authorities will introduce local grants is unclear. The timeline remains unclear. On a lighter note, the consortium plans to host an open-workshop weekend in May, inviting residents to watch dovetail joints being cut live. Interest from architecture students at the University of Genoa has already been strong.