Most people come to us with a photograph and a rough idea. That is a fine place to start, but the stair that ends up in your house is decided by four things, and none of them is the photograph.
Start with how much light you want to keep
A staircase is the largest single object most houses contain. Put a solid one in a hallway and the room behind it disappears. Put an open riser in the same spot and the wall at the back is still visible from the front door.
If your stair sits against a window, in an open-plan space, or anywhere the light has to travel past it, an open riser design — mono stringer, double stringer, cantilevered or zig zag — will do more for the room than any finish choice. If it sits in a closed hallway with a wall on both sides, a closed riser is usually the better-looking answer and the quieter one.
Then think about where it will be seen from
A stair seen from directly below is a different object to one seen from the side. Cantilevered treads look extraordinary from underneath and almost ordinary from the landing above. A zig zag reads best side-on, where the folded profile is obvious.
Stand in the room and work out where people will actually be when they look at it. The front door, the kitchen island, the top of the flight. That is the view the design should be built around.
Be honest about who uses it
A stair in a family house is walked in the dark, in socks, carrying laundry, by children and by grandparents. Open risers are fine for that — they are built to code with a gap no child can fall through — but a very deep tread nosing or a highly polished stone can be less forgiving than a photograph suggests.
Tell us how the house is used and we will tell you which combinations we would not put in it. It is a short conversation and it saves a lot of regret.
Match the design to the opening you actually have
The floor-to-floor height and the size of the opening decide more than taste does. A tight opening rules out a generous curve. A very wide one makes a single mono stringer look thin unless the treads go up in thickness to match.
This is why we survey before we design, and why every quote starts with dimensions rather than a catalogue number. Send the opening size, the floor-to-floor height and a photograph, and the shortlist writes itself.
What we would suggest, in short
Open-plan living, lots of glazing — mono stringer or cantilevered. Keeps sightlines and lets the floor run underneath.
Formal hall, wall both sides — closed riser or waterfall. Quiet underfoot and reads as one piece of material.
Wide flight or commercial traffic — double stringer, or a mono stringer with tread supports for the extra width.
A stair as the centrepiece — curved, elliptical or helical. It costs more and takes longer, and nothing else comes close.
Thinking about a staircase?
Send your opening dimensions, floor-to-floor height and a photo. We come back with architectural shop drawings, three realistic 3D renderings and a firm price.