Why We Designed a Bespoke Staircase For Our Office

As Lockdown swept the nation, and everyone was forced to work from home, we thought there was no time like the present to renovate our office space, particularly renovating the loft space into a second floor. To do this we needed a staircase.

There were many reasons as to why we decided to design our own staircase . With decades of design experience, we knew we could build our own at a cheaper cost, sustainably, with the materials and aesthetic we wanted, and show off what our company is capable of.

The initial brief for the staircase was that it needed to look modern, bespoke and expensive, whilst also fitting the rustic and agricultural style of the old Cotswold stone building. It was a difficult challenge we set ourselves, to be both modern and also look like it could have always been there. On top of this, it was important for the staircase to look as though it was floating. The lack of walls, uprights, or legs would mean maximising natural light flooding through from the glass exterior wall, providing optimised workspace lighting. We wanted it to feel like a nice mixture of industrial and modern whilst keeping in line with history and rustic aesthetic of our barn conversion office design. Using reclaimed wood from the purlins of a barn conversion from the same farm complimented the old stone and colour palette perfectly.

To be more sustainable and to save money, we repurposed materials from neighbouring buildings. Using reclaimed materials means less transportation and new timber production. The wood has already been cut, treated, and already in the location we needed it. Avoiding buying new wood allowed us to do our little bit for the Earth.

The handrails and balusters needed to be easy to adjust as the shape of the room and stairs needed to be easily adaptable to the awkward shape of the entrance way. The handrail is galvanised steel and balusters were stainless steel strings to provide an industrial feel amongst the very rustic wood. Furthermore, using stainless steel strings allowed maximum light to flood into the otherwise quite dark building.

It would have almost been bizarre, as a creative agency, not to have designed our own staircase. Our background in industrial and spatial design meant we had the knowledge and knowhow to get the staircase of our dreams rather than the staircase that a specialist staircase company could offer. Utilising specialist tools to create CAD renders, we were able to make a flexible render that could update itself with every adjustment. This was crucial as we could not get exact measurements until the space in the ceiling had been cut for the stairs to go up to. Once we were able to start the build, we had not only designed the staircase of our dreams, but we had also saved a small fortune. What would usually be, for commercial staircases, a £20,000 project only ended up costing around £6,000. Furthermore, being a small business ourselves, we wanted to make a point of using only local trades people and joiners to support our own local community.

Our staircase has been a real labour of love and has been a pinnacle of change as we expanded our office space. This project has allowed us to expand, to show off our spatial design skills, and to present our office and brand in the way it deserves. If you want more convincing of why office renovations are worthwhile, please feel free to read our Pros of Renovating Your Office blog.

Take this blog as an open invitation to book a meeting with our team and have a look for yourself! We’ll have a tea or coffee and show you around our site which is set on The Woodland’s Business Centre Farm in the scenic area of Long Compton. Click here for our contact information and full address details.