Discover the wide variety of staircase materials and finishes on the market

Which staircase design would you like?

Before you consider materials, its worth understanding the different types of staircase design you might like to have in your property. We are experts in the design of bespoke spiral stairs, helical or curved staircases and straight stair designs like dog legged and cantilever or floating stairs.

It is worth thinking about whether you are interested in having open or closed risers (the near vertical spaces between one step and the next on stairs). Full height solid balustrade or ornate balusters and where and how you want your handrail to appear. Once you’ve got an idea of the shape and style of the stairs you can think about materials and the finishing touches.

Visit our residential section for further information on staircase design ideas.

Popular staircase tread materials

There are a multitude of different colours and materials available for staircase treads. Our most popular choices are timber, stone, glass and concrete. Some people choose a vinyl or carpet overlay but the beauty of natural stone and concrete, in particular, is that we can colour match to walls and flooring.

In some cases, we can also change the shape of the tread to suit the style of the build. A recent project in a residential property in London involved creating three different shapes of tread and alternating where they appeared during the install of the cantilever staircase.

Treads can really enhance the look of the stair so considering whether you want them to stand out and really make an impact as a feature of your interior design or blend into the background is important to think about.

The beauty of balustrade

Defined as a row of small columns or balusters topped by a rail, balustrade comes in a vast variety of shapes and sizes. We can offer ornate art deco style spindles or wooden uprights, through to full height sheet steel panels powder coated in bright colours or clad in timber.

Our parapet styles can create a lovely vintage look or structured glass panels can defuse light with modern bespoke staircase designs achieved through smooth lines and striking colour contrasts. Corten is also a stylish contemporary staircase material option.

Handrails, the finishing touch

We often consider handrails and balustrade as a complete system when we design a bespoke staircase. Handrails really add that beautiful final touch. They can be inset into balustrade or made in a range of hardwoods, mild or stainless steel. We can powder coat them or wrap them in materials like rope or leather.

Our experienced team of craftsmen are skilled in fabricating beautiful stainless-steel curved handrails for spiral staircases and helical stairs. We have our own dedicated stainless-steel area to work on specific staircase design requirements so we can avoid cross contamination and ensure an attractive finish to our handrails.

Concrete – an enduring style

Understated and beautiful, concrete staircases in light white finishes can help keep spaces bright and airy. Concrete tread options work well on straight and curved stairs as well as being used for spiral staircases.

We can inset treads in contrasting materials like timber, stone or carpet and the finish on concrete treads can be fair face (smooth) or be exposed aggregate (rough pebble dash) on the outside.

And then the finish

Staircase finishes include powder coating, site sprayed, lacquered or polished metalwork. Bespoke staircases can be supplied pre-finished or ready to receive final in situ spraying. At Spiral UK we can carry out the spraying or leave the stair with a primer ready for site decoration.

As a bespoke staircase manufacturer, we work with clients and contractors to meet any level of requirement for finishes so if you would prefer someone else to do the spraying at site or plaster the soffit then our tailored approach can work with that.

We can provide samples of all materials and in most cases colour match to flooring.