Helical Stairs - an exciting new concept

The addition of helical stairs to the Crescent stair range offers the architect and interior designer an exciting new design element which can visually enhance utilitarian and luxury structures alike.

The infinite varieties possible in geometry, stair component and balustrade designs give the architect a new and innovative palette to make a bold and individual statement within the overall design concept.

Design - CAD, the automatic choice

It will be understood that by their very nature, helical stairs offer much more variety in shape and specification.

Each design is unique and has it's own geometry to suit its location and the building in which it is installed. This inevitably leads to the creation of a new specification for each new stair. Although each helical staircase design is different, our CAD system, with its unique bespoke Crescent software, has the parametric capability to rapidly turn your concept into a detailed, working drawing.

An additional and very valuable aspect of our software is the ability to generate lifelike computer visuals of the stair in situ - enabling you to check aspects of appearance and, typically, offering a range of balustrade designs - before working drawings are generated.

Stringers - it's easy to specify good looks

Like all Crescent stairs, including spirals and straight flights, helicals are available in a wide range of materials for exterior and interior use. However you may well find what you require in our stock designs and materials.

For instance the design of the stringers is dependent upon the geometry of the staircase and the most commonly used stringer is 300 x 12mm flat bar, but box section, channel section and even tubular stringers can be supplied if the design calculations demand increased stiffness in the structure, or even purely for aesthetic reasons !

We all need a little support

Wherever possible we endeavor to design helical stairs to be self supporting, but very occasionally additional support will be required. When such additional support is required, brackets are designed within the line of the stringer.

Part of the Crescent service includes the supply of the calculations to verify each design and to confirm the magnitude of forces imposed on the building structure.

Installation - the finish sometimes comes first

Because of the size and weight of some of the stair's components, consideration must be given to site access, lifting facilities and the implication to the site programme for the installing of the staircase.

It should be noted that the stringer, tread and landing elements may need site welding to give the completed structures the necessary stability and therefore these components are often supplied either unfinished or primer painted for finishing on site by others.