Client: The Palladium
Type of works: designed, manufactured and installed a helical staircase

Working in conjunction with the main contractor Overbury and RHWL Architects, Spiral were commissioned to design, manufacture and install a helical staircase to link the newly refurbished Palladium bar with the foyer. The exact detailing of the traditional design was critical to match in with period features of the building. Spiral produced highly detailed 3D models of the stair using state of the art CAD technology in order to make sure that even the smallest details were exactly what were required.

The sweeping stair consisted of a steel structure with the stringers and soffit clad in fibrous plaster. The natural stone treads and risers were specially machined to reproduce the detailed profiles matching those of existing Victorian staircases within the building, with a soft beige coloured Italian marble the preferred material. The balustrade to the stair and adjacent circular gallery comprised glass and wrought iron spindles, again to match parts of the building, with a French polished hardwood handrail. The variety of materials together with the highly detailed design combined to produce a stunning staircase which many visitors have commented looks as if it has been in place for decades than a few weeks.

Much of the work was directly supervised by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Chairman and owner of the Really Useful Group who own the Palladium along with a number of other leading West End theatres.

Spiral Construction Managing Director Eric Nicholls commented “We are delighted to have been involved in such a prestigious project and the feedback that we have received from all parties involved has been excellent. The timescale to complete the work was particularly challenging as we could not carry out any surveys on the existing structure until Sister Act, the last show prior to the shut down, had finished its run, and the work was further disrupted when the theatre had to reopen in the middle of the works for the Royal Variety Performance. Despite all this, work was completed on programme in readiness for the grand reopening for the Wizard of Oz starring Michael Crawford. The fitters had to co-ordinate any noisy operations around the final rehearsals for the show!”