Stairs are undergoing a revolution. The combination of complex engineering and clever design is giving us increasingly dramatic, often gravity-defying bespoke staircases. Climbing steps has become so complicated it’s spawned a new breed: the specialist stair designer.
A staircase like this glass curved number is designed specially for an open-plan building and allows light to penetrate every part of the stairwell and beyond. With glass treads and balustrading, the original brief was focused solely on providing the maximum amount of light possible. How much would it cost to buy? Somewhere in the region of $55,000-$60,000!
There are cheaper options. You can buy a bespoke staircase for about $5,000, which is a bargain when you consider how they set the tone and style of a home. Of course you can spend a lot more – these stairs set the owners of this contemporary building back a cool half a million pounds. While that is an extraordinary amount of money, the drama they provide is immeasurable: the stairs define the building.
Anthony Payne, a London resident, bought his new flat and gutted it, all apart from the staircase. ‘As far as I know there’s only two other stairways like this in the world. They were custom made for this development and represented a third of the original build cost’, says Anthony. And the cost? ‘About $2,000-$3,000 per stair,’ he grins. For Anthony, these stairs are worth every single penny.
What’s exciting is the extent to which you can experiment with materials and design to get exactly the right staircase for you. If you want to free up space, as many of us do, then cantilevered stairs are perfect. These steps are wedged into the wall, which supports the whole structure. The balustrade offers no support at all. It gives the effect of floating on air.
Spiral staircases aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but they do work well where space is limited. If you’ve won the space race then a helical staircase is about as grand as you can get. Somewhat reminiscent of a curved strand of DNA, they revoke the standard central column in favour of physics-defying stringer supports on either side. They might look fantastic, but they really do take up a phenomenal amount of space.
When it comes to what you make your stairs from, durability really counts. One of the things people don’t think about with staircases often enough is the acoustics. Think about what the noise will be as people travel up and down the staircase. Think, ‘What does my staircase sound like?’, instead of focusing purely on visual aesthetics.
Glass may not be the quietest material, but it does have great benefits: glass treads and balustrades allow light to flood through. Used cleverly they can transform a dark space. Take these bespoke beauties, designed by Bisca. They allow sunlight from the roof windows above to penetrate right to the ground floor of this London apartment.
Some people find it incredibly unnerving walking up and down them, but the effect they have on the lower level of this property is simply priceless. Good job too, because these sexy stairs set their owner back a hefty $20,000.
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