A Victorian Spiral in Colorado

For this project, we brought a touch of 19^th Century England to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a spiral staircase and matching balustrade, fitting on a property in the city of Boulder, Colorado.

Coming to America

Boulder City has a rich and complex history dating back to its foundation in the mid-19^th Century. Around this time, across the Atlantic, the ornate and extravagant Regency era was coming to an end and ushering in the aesthetics of the Victorian period. As part of a home improvement project, the homeowner chose a design that combined these two consecutive, but subtly different, architectural eras. The classical elegance and intricacy of the Regency, and the Gothic revivalist and complex Victorian style both stand out boldly against such a quintessentially American backdrop.

Turning back the clock

The homeowner was looking for an original staircase as part of a larger garage and carriage house construction and required a staircase to access the spacious roof deck and provide the building with a unique feature. With the house dating back to 1899, the homeowner wanted to find stairs that reflected this period. The relative newness of American furnishings meant that they started to look further afield to Britain – because, as the homeowner puts it, we ‘value our history.’

After discovering British Spirals & Castings on the internet and exploring our extensive range of baluster and spiral staircase designs, the homeowner settled on a Victorian spiral staircase, with 15 rises ascending anticlockwise to the roof deck. Three Victorian balusters per tread adorned the staircase, and decorative plates gave the top triangular landing an elegant and aesthetic appeal. To match, they opted for the same Victorian balustrades to stretch the length of the roof deck, using profiled side fix newel posts.

As with most of our overseas projects, we designed and manufactured the staircase without ever actually visiting the project. To make this possible, the project was measured up by the contractor, Jerry Paxton, of Paradigm Construction and Properties, Inc, and sent over to our design team. We then used these to develop detailed 3D CAD plans for the staircase and balustrade.

In addition to ensuring the designs precisely met the project measurements, we also needed to ensure they were in line with the local Building Codes in Boulder, which differ from the UK. Together with Jerry, we came up with a solution that met the requirements in the state.

Once these were finalised, we got to work producing the cast aluminium components at our own specialist foundry. They were then fully erected in the workshop before being taken down to be finished with a RAL 9005 Black powder coating in our dedicated powder coating building, and then packaged ready to be sent to the US. The homeowner elected to have a DAP (Delivered-at-place) service which we arranged direct to site in Boulder.

Then, once the staircase arrived on location, the installation progressed exactly as planned, with no issues, according to Jerry.

Of their experience of as an overseas homeowner, they said: “As a US customer, we expect fast responses, and British Spirals & Castings did just that. They are responsive and responsible, and we loved the transparency of the process. Before working with them, I didn’t know much about the company as it was overseas, but British Spirals & Castings are very professional and help you through any challenges. I recommend them highly.”

Get in touch

If you are interested in having a bespoke spiral staircase installed in your own property, visit our gallery to view some of the options and submit a quote or get in touch via phone or email.