Open concept and minimalist house designs are becoming increasingly popular. Visual barriers in main living areas are avoided with simple design elements usually defined just with vertical and horizontal planes. And stairs are learning that orthographic language. No ornamentation, no intricate curves. Stairs are going naked. They are losing walls and massive supports and they are often moved closer to the center of the house living area to become a focal point of the whole house. They become just a set of seemingly unsupported step platforms in a plain orthogonal shape. No visible screws, brackets, welds, etc. For maximum transparency step supports are either hidden or visually minimal.
The simple rhythm of step platforms, climbing diagonally up, grabs attention and a stair becomes a modern sculpture.
We make only minimalist modern stairs. Our stairs feature clean design with no visible screws, brackets or welds, just stringers and steps.
To achieve a structurally sound yet visually minimal structure our floating stairs are made from metal. Metal steps are secured to metal stringers. Glass guards are secured to metal steps. Wood or other cover materials are added later.
Our extensive use of CAD drawings, CNC cutting, CNC machining and innovative technologies like patented step leveling hardware and adjustable glass standoffs allow precise geometry and least installation time.
Installation typically does not require welding, cutting or grinding making our footprint at the job site minimal.
To achieve a minimalist design with maximum transparency, floating stairs are ideally paired with frameless glass guards. For a fully frameless guard, we recommend using 13/16” thick tempered and laminated glass (or a minimum of 5/8” thick tempered glass for residential projects), or 1/2” thick tempered glass with a secured top rail.
While standard clear glass is commonly used, it has a slight green tint, especially at the edges. Alternatively, extra-clear glass (also called starphire or low-iron glass) provides crystal-clear edges. Additionally, acid-etched (frosted) or tinted glass options are available for a more customized appearance.
Handrails can be top of the glass mount, glass side mount, wall side mount or post mount.
We offer handrails in simple shapes with round or rectangular cross sections and with a few choices of clean, minimal handrail brackets.
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