How Glass Staircases can Transform Homes and Workspaces

Open staircases are an excellent way to open up a stairway area and introduce more light to your home, all while making a striking visual statement. If you’re renovating or replacing your existing stairs, why not consider switching to an open glass staircase?

Traditional staircases might opt for wooden spindles and banisters, but contemporary staircases use glass and steel to create a stylish design feature. Made from robust tempered glass, a glass balustrade can immediately uplift the stairway of any home or business.

glass stair case

This blog explains why this type of glass is the perfect blend of form and function, and how you can transform the look and feel of your space with a beautiful glass staircase.

Increasing natural light and open space

Gone are the days of dark narrow hallways and old-fashioned bulky staircases. With a glass staircase, your entrance or hallway will feel bright and airy instead of cramped and gloomy.

The nature of glass as a material means that it allows light to pass through, but also reflects it. This means that more light can spread throughout the space, making it feel much bigger than it really is.

This illuminating element is especially valuable when space is at a premium, as slim and see-through glass panels don’t take up much room, contributing to a more open and inviting environment.

It’s not just about looks – studies have found that more natural light in the home improves emotional wellbeing, and more natural light in the workplace improves performance.

Keeping things stylish yet subtle

Glass is known to create a modern and luxurious atmosphere when used in furnishings and architectural features, and staircases are no exception. However, glass staircases are versatile enough to fit in with all kinds of interior design.

Whether your home is ultra-contemporary and minimalist, has more traditional touches, or is somewhere in the middle, the clean lines and simple surfaces of glass balustrades can make a sleek contrast to other materials or harmonise with them well.

You can choose to make a focal point of the glass or use it as a supporting player in the grander design of your staircase – either way, it’s sure to look amazing. Whatever your vision is for your décor style, glass balustrades can help you to make it a reality.

Maximum safety, minimum effort

Though glass is known as a fragile material, the kind used for staircases is toughened safety glass. This material goes through a tempering process that reinforces its strength and impact resistance, making it several times tougher than regular glass.

Tempered glass is very difficult to scratch or crack, making it very safe. In the rare event that the glass does break, it won’t shatter into lots of sharp pieces that could cause injuries.

Similarly, if you choose laminated glass, the middle layer will hold the two layers of glass in place even if a panel shatters.

As well as being sturdy enough to endure daily wear and tear, glass doesn’t deteriorate the way wooden staircases do. With glass, you don’t have to worry about chipping paint, rot, and insects, or preservative treatments and polishes.

All you need to do to keep this low-maintenance material in good condition is to wipe the glass clean whenever it’s looking dirty or streaky.

How to style a glass staircase

There are so many possibilities when it comes to incorporating glass balustrades into a home or office staircase. From enhancing floating stairs to letting patterned runners shine, glass works wonderfully in combination with many other materials.

The go-to option for a contemporary-looking staircase is to combine glass panels with stainless steel fittings and handrails. You can opt for polished steel for a high-end professional appearance, or brushed steel for something more subtle and homely.

If you would prefer a slightly warmer tone to your staircase, you could combine glass and timber. Give a traditional wooden staircase a makeover with glass balustrades, while keeping the natural look of the timber and possibly matching the banisters.

Or, for a cutting-edge style that looks to the future, you could forego the visible fittings and install completely frameless glass balustrades. Though they’re just as strong as any other glass balustrade system, they use ‘invisible’ fixing methods to make the run of panels as seamless as possible.

Whichever style most appeals to you, it’s easier than you think to achieve it in your own home or workplace – just order bespoke glass balustrades to get started on your custom glass staircase.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.