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Welcome to First Step Designs, the UK's leading designers and manufacturers of bespoke floating staircases. We’re based just an hour from Derby, and we've built a reputation for delivering the most technically advanced and visually striking floating stairs in the country, helping homeowners and architects achieve interior spaces that inspire.
Over recent years, our work has been recognised at national awards, including the 2024 Build It Award for Best UK Staircase, along with features on Grand Designs, and we continue to work on increasingly high-profile projects across the UK.
If you're looking for a floating staircase that needs to make an impact, choose First Step Designs for inspired design and precision engineering without equal.
Floating stairs—also called cantilevered stairs—represent the highest levels of design and fabrication ambition. While the floating effect is visually stunning, achieving a clean and perfectly balanced final product is easier said than done, and even the slightest miscalculation or engineering error can lead to stairs that look and feel lopsided and unbalanced.
At First Step Designs, we design and manufacture floating staircases to millimetre tolerances. We rely on advanced CAD modelling, 5-axis CNC milling, and extensive quality control to only ever deliver floating staircases of the highest quality—perfectly proportioned, balanced, and detailed.
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Your new or renovated stairs are no more than a quick call, email or message away.
You can also use our Inspiration Gallery to save images of our work that you like. Then, simply send them along with any other photos, plans, or details through our contact form so we can discuss your project.
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After understanding what you’re trying to achieve, we’ll send a detailed and itemised same-day quote. Our pricing is honest and transparent, allowing you to quickly determine if we are the right fit for your project.
At your request, we’ll gladly quote for multiple configurations of your ideal stairs.
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After visiting your home to take the measurements we need, we draft and present fully accurate 3D renditions of what your staircase will look like in your home.
Once the details, timelines, and installation dates are locked in, we begin fabricating your dream staircase.
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That’s right: sit back knowing that our expert team of craftsmen is hard at work bringing your staircase to life, fabricating your dream stairs to our exacting standards.
Depending on the complexity of the design, this typically takes anywhere from 3 to 5 days.
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Our expert and experienced team of Staffordshire-based installers will install your new or renovated stairs in 2 to 4 days.
They have a wealth of experience in joinery and engineering, a seriously professional attitude towards work, and operate as unintrusively as possible.
Any style of staircase, when designed with passion and built with care, can transform a home, but none more so than a floating staircase. By removing the visible support structures and opening the sightlines between treads, they create a sense of lightness and openness that other staircases, even other open styles, simply can't match.
Floating stairs offer:
The full design-to-installation process generally takes 3 to 6 months, allowing time for design, approvals, engineering, test-fitting, and installation. For clients who come to us with clear structural drawings and design direction, we can sometimes complete the process in as little as 6 to 8 weeks.
As with all our projects, every floating staircase is built entirely in-house—no prefabricated modules, no generic parts—ensuring a completely bespoke, precision-built end result.
Pricing varies depending on structure, materials, and complexity. Most Derby installations fall between £23,000 and £30,000 (+VAT). For an accurate quotation, our design team can walk you through the available options and provide guidance based on your property’s requirements.
Floating stairs are versatile, and First Step Designs clients enjoy the freedom to detail and finish the visible components of their stairs in a broad range of materials, including steel, timber, glass, stone, tile, microconcrete, and more.
For lasting strength and stability, we manufacture all the concealed anchors, supports, and wall reinforcements from steel.
Floating staircases do not need any special cleaning or maintenance; routine cleaning and mopping up spills as they occur should be enough to keep yours in showroom condition for years.
In the rare event of accidental damage, our team can repair or refinish timber, steel, glass, or other components to restore the staircase to its original condition.
By law, floating staircases must meet the same UK building regulations for safety and rigidity that all other staircase styles are subject to. In a nutshell, they are no more or less safe than any other staircase style. First Step Design floating staircases are designed to stand up to decades of regular, heavy foot traffic.
Floating stairs' refer to a type of staircase style where each tread is supported by a concealed steel structure, typically embedded within a reinforced wall or a custom-built, hidden frame. They're only attached to their support from one side, creating an effect where the stairs seem to float in mid-air.
Floating stairs represent serious design and fabrication challenges; however, it is hard to compare any other style to the impact that floating stairs make.
