Basement Helical Staircase, York

A monolithic basement helical staircase for a luxury country house property in the centre of York.

Our clients brief was to design, manufacture and install a feature staircase with ‘wow factor’ from a ground floor living kitchen. The staircase led down into a multi-sensorial chill out entertainment room in the basement.

The staircase design had to form an aesthetic and functional link between the individualistic designs of the kitchen and basement. Lighting was an important feature due to the visual contrast between the two areas joined by the staircase. The kitchen has a bank of floor to ceiling windows and the darkened basement little natural daylight.

Our solution was a helical and cantilevered staircase, sweeping down from the kitchen into the basement. The monolithic structure appears to hang in the space, reflecting the design of the feature fireplace in the kitchen. Generous treads of oiled kiln dried Ash match the naturally curved hardwood “Bolefloor” timber in the kitchen. The open tread design maximises available light down into the basement area.

A glass balustrade made from panels of curved, toughened low iron glass guards one side of the stair. At the other side we built a parapet wall of plastered steel, with light reflective white paint. The grain of the treads is continued “through” the glass balustrade. Tread tread end caps fixed to the outer edge of the treads give the effect of floating treads.

Wide oval section Ash handrails sit on top of the balustrade and also run along in the inside of the parapet wall. The basement feature newel seamlessly transitions into an oval section handrail, before flowing up the staircase and around the first floor kitchen gallery.

Ash has been out of favour for some years after its over-use in the 1980’s, but is today enjoying a resurgence.

For more information on this staircase please quote reference 4389, or York basement helical staircase.

Project ID: 4389