Skip to content
Work Services Studio Process Journal
Book a consultation

Case study

Toorak Stair

A frameless balustrade that lets a floating stair stay floating.

Toorak · 2026 · Frameless balustrade

Floating timber stair with a frameless glass balustrade in Toorak

A new floating-tread stair in a Toorak renovation. The balustrade had to protect the fall without adding a single visible fixing — the stair was the architecture.

The brief

The builder needed a compliant barrier to a 2.7-metre fall. The architect wanted it invisible: no spigots, no posts, no top rail reading across the timber treads.

The approach

We took the loading back to AS 1288:2021 and specified toughened-laminated glass in a continuous channel cast into the stair stringer — no point fixings, no handrail required for this configuration. The lamination gives the post-failure retention the fall height demands.

The result

The glass disappears. The stair reads exactly as drawn — timber treads, a clean line of glass, light passing straight through. The compliance is in the specification, not on the surface.

Specification

Glass
15mm toughened-laminated
Fixing
Continuous cast-in channel
Standard
AS 1288:2021 · NCC 2025
Lead time
4 weeks, measure to install

Project highlights

  • Channel fixing — no spigots, no visible hardware
  • Toughened-laminated glass for post-failure retention at a 2.7m fall
  • No top rail required for the configuration, confirmed against AS 1288

More work

Recent projects.

Start your project

A project like this one?

Book a consultation and we'll walk the scope, look at samples, and follow up with a written, itemised brief within five business days.