It’s like the way water circles the plughole, really.

Clockwise in the southern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the northern.

The Coriolis effect, I’m told.

The same thing should logically happen with spiral staircases.

If you drive (or walk) on the right, you should go up (and down) on the right.

Opposite applies if you drive on the left.

So shouldn’t architects be designing spiral staircases accordingly?

As in: NOT LIKE THIS ONE at the Apple Store in Frankfurt?

You SHOULD be going UP the staircase closest to the central column, using the narrowest part of the tread and let people coming DOWN use the wider (and safer) area of the tread.

But no – drive on the right, walk on the right.

Maybe they were cheaper in Australia.

Maybe it’s the Coriolis effect after all.

Maybe our resident architect can put us right…