Hard maple is a bright, beautiful, clear-grained, and tremendously durable wood. The trade-offs are that it dulls tools quickly, and sometimes twists in unpredictable ways when milled, but the benefits can be worth the effort. It's a great choice for high-traffic, high-visibility features such as this staircase.
The client and architect wanted this staircase to be a show piece in the home, so it is centrally located, and visible throughout the first floor. It leads up to a high-ceilinged central hallway, lit by a pair of large east and west facing windows. Natural light fills the space, and filters down the stairwell, through the wire railings, and between the floating treads and the gapped planks of the landing.
