Hartwell
Most homeowners in the UK come to us looking to create something truly unique and authentic. At first glance, it might seem impossible to create an original design given the thousands of modern staircases available today. However, we take a personalized approach with every client, which allows us to craft true works of art.
All of the above is about the Hartwell staircase. This is a curved staircase we made for a private home in the UK. The client wanted a staircase that feels grand and traditional, but works for a normal, everyday home.
It has quartz treads, lighting in every step, a brass handrail and an antique-style metal balustrade that runs along the full curve of the stairs and the gallery above. We designed and built the whole thing in-house at V.PSTAIRS. Every stage, from the curved frame to the final handrail, was checked at each step and built to meet UK building regulations.
“HARTWELL: A CLASSIC LOOK, BUILT THE MODERN WAY”
Quartz Treads with Integrated Lighting
Each step is finished in quartz. This is a practical choice, not just a look. Most people expect marble on a staircase like this….. but marble has a real problem in a busy home. It is porous and gets tiny micro-cracks, so a spill of coffee, wine or anything acidic can soak in and leave a stain that never comes out. Quartz is denser and non-porous, so it resists stains and wear and keeps its clean, pale look for years. On a staircase used every day, that matters as much as how it looks.
Every step also has lighting built into the edge. As well as looking good in the evening, this step lighting makes the stairs safer, showing the edge of each step and making the curve easy to see in low light.
The Curved Metal Frame
Hartwell is one continuous curved flight that rises and turns onto the gallery landing with no sharp corners. A curve like this is one of the harder things to build, because every tread, riser and part of the string has to follow the same line with no visible break. Under the finishes, the staircase sits on a metal frame. This steel core gives a long curved flight its strength and its solid feel when you walk on it, and it is what lets the curve work while the parts you actually see stay slim. This metal frame does a few things at once:
- Holds the staircase firm, with no flex or creak.
- Keeps the curve accurate from the bottom to the landing.
- Carries the weight while the finishes stay thin and light.
People in the UK often ask how much a metal frame for a staircase like this costs. For this project, the metal frame came to around £14,000, though the price depends on the size, the shape of the curve and how the frame is engineered.
Delicate Metal Craftsmanship
The balustrade is what gives the Hartwell project its character. We designed the metalwork at V.PSTAIRS from antique drawings and then adapted it for a modern home, with a repeating pattern of slim uprights, soft arches and a fine crossing detail. It has an antique-brass finish and a brass handrail that runs without a break along every curve of the stairs and the gallery, including the shaped end at the foot of the flight.
The whole run reads as one piece. There are no rough joints breaking up the pattern and no awkward breaks in the handrail. The open pattern also lets light through, so the balustrade frames the stairwell without closing it off.
The balustrade is a big project on its own, and there is more to say about how we designed and built it. If you want to read about it in detail, you can find the full balustrade case study here.
The Feature Step and Other Details
Hartwell project starts with a feature step, a larger first step that sticks out past the line of the stairs and sits on its own rounded base. Instead of starting straight away, the bottom of the stairs curves out on both sides, so you can step on from more than one direction. It is one of the easiest ways to add character to the start of a staircase, and it makes the bottom of the flight look wider and more open than a plain straight start. If you want to see the different styles and where they work best, we cover them in our complete guide to feature steps.
It is a fitting place to finish, because the feature step is the first thing you see when you walk in. Every part, from the metal frame to the quartz treads, the lighting, the balustrade and that first step, was designed as one staircase rather than added bit by bit.
At V.PSTAIRS, we design and build bespoke staircases and balustrades for homes across the UK, from curved and helical shapes to feature steps, step lighting and custom metalwork. If you are planning a staircase to be the main feature of your home, the best place to start is a free consultation with our team.
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