Glass Balustrade Replacement to a School Staircase, York

Glass balustrade with stainless posts to the entrance staircase at Woodthorpe Primary School, York

Glass Balustrade Replacement to a School Staircase - Woodthorpe Primary School, York

Woodthorpe Primary School in York came to us to replace the balustrade on its main staircase. What was there was original to the building: white painted steel bars on base plated posts, with a black capped handrail, running up a flight of pink terrazzo stairs. It had done its job for decades, but it was tired, the bar spacing was not what anyone would specify for a primary school today, and the posts were bolted through a terrazzo finish that nobody wanted to disturb again.

We surveyed it, drew it, made it in Sheffield and installed it: our System 1 stainless steel balustrade with toughened and laminated glass infill, core drilled into the existing treads and landings.

Project overview

Client: Woodthorpe Primary School, York
Project: Full replacement of an existing painted steel bar stair balustrade
System: System 1 stainless steel balustrade with glass infill
Metalwork: 304 grade stainless steel, satin brushed, 48mm diameter posts and 42mm diameter handrails
Glass: 10mm toughened and laminated clear, an upgrade from standard toughened
Glass clamps: Adhesive fixed cover caps, chosen as a tamper resistant finish for a school
Heights: 1100mm to landings and galleries, 900mm to flights measured from the pitch line
Post fixing: Core drilled throughout, with 125mm diameter cover roses
Standard: Fabricated to BS EN 1090-2, execution class EXC2, declaration method 3b, UKCA marked
Scope: Survey, removal and disposal of the old balustrade, manufacture and installation

Get a price for something similar

This is our System 1 Stainless Steel and Glass Balustrade, made to your existing stair, with laminated glass where a building is used by children.

See prices and options

What was there before

Vertical painted steel bars between base plated posts, with a dark capped handrail following the flights and turning the half landings. The bars were close enough together to be safe in the sphere sense, but the whole thing read as institutional, it was repainted rather than refinished, and every post stood on a plate screwed down onto the terrazzo.

Base plates are the quick way to fix a balustrade and the slow way to live with one. They sit proud, they collect dirt around the edge, they need four fixings each instead of one hole, and when they come off you are left with a footprint of filled screw holes on a floor finish that cannot be patched invisibly.

The original painted steel bar balustrade on the school staircase before replacement — Before. Painted steel bars on base plated posts, original to the building

Base plated post on a terrazzo tread from the old school balustrade before removal — One of the original posts, base plated onto the terrazzo

Why we core drilled instead of base plating

Terrazzo is the reason. It is a poured and ground finish, it is almost certainly original to the stair, and there is no realistic way to replace a damaged section so that it matches. Anything we did to it was permanent.

A core drilled post goes into a single clean hole, gets grouted in, and a 125mm stainless cover rose sits over the top. One hole per post instead of four fixings, no plate edge for a mop to catch, and the rose covers the cut cleanly. It is more work on site than bolting a plate down, and it is the right answer on a floor finish you cannot replace.

It also gave us the freedom to set the posts where the glass wanted them rather than where a plate would fit, which matters on a stair that changes direction twice.

Core drilled stainless balustrade posts with cover roses set into terrazzo treads — Core drilled posts with cover roses, and the glass stepped to follow the treads

Laminated glass, because it is a school

Our standard infill is 10mm toughened. Here we specified toughened and laminated instead, and it is worth being clear about why, because it costs more and most people cannot tell the difference by looking.

Toughened glass is strong, and when it does break it breaks completely, into a pile of small blunt pieces. In a house that is an inconvenience. On a primary school stair, a panel that disappears leaves an unguarded edge above a drop, with children on both sides of it and nobody expecting it.

Laminated glass has an interlayer bonded between two sheets. Break it and the fragments stay stuck to the interlayer, so the panel holds its position until somebody can get to it. That is the whole argument, and in a building full of children it is not a close call.

Heights, loadings and the non-climbable question

A school is not a dwelling, so the guarding heights are the ones in BS 6180:2011 and Approved Document K for buildings other than dwellings. That is 1100mm to landings, galleries and the edges of floors, and 900mm to the flights, measured vertically from the pitch line. Both are drawn and set out before anything is cut.

Loading on a school stair is heavier than domestic as well. The balustrade is designed to 0.74 kN per metre horizontal line load at handrail height, with 0.5 kN per square metre on the infill.

The glass infill is a flat panel. There are no horizontal rails and no mid rails, so there is nothing to put a foot on, which is what the non-climbable guidance in BS 6180 is aimed at. We also closed every gap so that a 100mm sphere cannot pass, between glass panels, between glass and post, and at the bottom of each panel.

Our glass balustrade building regulations guide sets all of this out in more detail if you are specifying one.

Toughened laminated glass infill stepped around the terrazzo treads on a school stair — The glass steps with the treads rather than raking, so every panel keeps a square bottom edge

Handrails that stop properly

Every handrail on this job returns into a wall or into a post. None of them finish in open air.

That is a detail people skip and it matters most in exactly this building. A handrail that stops with a free end is a hook, and a hook at child height catches coat toggles, bag straps and sleeves. Returning the rail removes the snag point entirely and costs a bend.

The flights also carry a separate stainless wall rail opposite the balustrade, so there is something to hold on both sides of the stair.

Stainless wall handrail returned into the wall at the foot of a school staircase — The wall rail returned into the wall at the bottom of the flight

304 stainless, not 316

We were asked about 316 and recommended against it here. 316 is the marine grade, and it earns its cost outside, near the coast, or anywhere chlorides are in the air. This stair is internal, dry and heated. 304 is the correct grade for internal commercial use, it takes the same satin brushed finish, and specifying 316 would have added cost without adding life.

Where we would have said the opposite is a coastal site or an external stair. There is more on that in our material finishes page.

Glass balustrade guarding the gallery landing above the stairwell void at a York primary school — The top landing, where the balustrade guards the edge of the stairwell void at 1100mm

Working in an occupied school

A stair is not something a school can close for a fortnight. This is the main circulation route through the building, and it has to be either finished or safe at the end of every working day.

That shaped the sequence more than anything technical did. Everything was surveyed first and drawn for approval before a single component was made, so nothing was being measured or decided on site. The balustrade arrived complete. Removal, core drilling, grouting and installation were planned so that the stair went back into use rather than being left part guarded.

Making good of the existing finishes after removal was excluded from our scope and handled separately, which is worth saying plainly because it catches people out on refurbishment work.

Stainless and glass balustrade to a school stair flight against a window wall — Glass in place of painted bars puts the daylight from the window wall back into the stairwell

Get a price for something similar

Send us photographs of the existing stair and a rough idea of the run lengths to sales@diomet.co.uk and we can give you a budget figure from that, then survey and draw it for approval before anything is made. Call 0114 243 9009 if it is easier to talk it through.

System 1 Stainless Steel and Glass Balustrade, the system on this page
System 2 Stainless Steel and Glass Balustrade, the same posts with a different glass arrangement
Stainless Steel Wall Mounted Handrail, the wall rail used opposite the balustrade
Bespoke Metal Railings, where bar infill suits the building better than glass
Internal Feature Staircase, where the stair itself is being replaced too

Our how to get a price page sets out what we need from you.

Frequently asked questions

Can a school balustrade be replaced without replacing the stairs?

Yes, and it usually is. The stair structure, treads and finishes stay exactly as they are. We survey the existing stair, core drill or bolt into it depending on the finish, and the new balustrade follows the geometry that is already there.

What guarding height does a school staircase need?

For buildings other than dwellings, 900mm to the flights measured from the pitch line and 1100mm to landings, galleries and the edges of internal floors. That comes from BS 6180:2011 and Approved Document K. Domestic stairs are 900mm throughout, which is why copying a house specification into a school gets the landings wrong.

Should school balustrade glass be laminated?

We would specify it. Toughened glass is strong but breaks into fragments and leaves the opening unguarded. Laminated glass holds together on the interlayer and keeps the panel in place until it can be replaced. On any guarding above a drop in a building used by children it is the sensible upgrade.

Is a glass balustrade climbable?

A flat glass infill with no horizontal or mid rails gives nothing to climb, which is the point of the non-climbable guidance in BS 6180. Where a design does include horizontal elements, or where you are adding a lower secondary rail for younger pupils, it is worth putting the detail in front of your building control officer rather than assuming.

Can you work around the school day?

Yes. Most of our school work is surveyed in term time, made off site and installed in holidays or outside teaching hours. Because everything is drawn and approved before manufacture, site time is installation only.

Do you work outside Yorkshire?

Yes. This project is in York. We make in Sheffield and install nationwide, and we also supply balustrade systems on a supply only basis for your own contractor to fit.