Floating Stairs, Kelowna, BC
Custom floating staircases for Kelowna, open-riser treads with concealed steel support that keeps the lake view open, fabricated at our C.W.B. certified Burnaby shop and installed across the Okanagan.
Floating Stairs, Kelowna
True cantilevered floating staircases, each tread anchored independently into a structural wall for the "no visible support" look.
Floating staircases, open risers with concealed support, suit the architect-led lakefront and hillside homes in Kelowna's Mission, Wilden, and Kettle Valley neighbourhoods, where the design brief is to keep the Okanagan Lake view uninterrupted through the centre of the home. We fabricate the steel support and treads at our Burnaby shop and install in Kelowna as a planned trip down Highway 97. The semi-arid Okanagan climate points the spec toward UV-stable finishes rather than the marine-grade hardware a coastal project needs. On wildfire-interface lots, an all-steel floating stair is also a non-combustible interior element. Every floating stair carries a sealed engineered drawing, the light, open look depends entirely on the concealed steel being engineered right.
Kelowna is the largest city in the Okanagan and a high-value market for architectural metalwork, lakefront luxury homes, wine-country estates, and a fast-growing commercial and institutional core anchored by Kelowna General Hospital and UBC Okanagan. We fabricate in Burnaby and deliver finished assemblies to Kelowna via the Coquihalla and Highway 97, which fits the larger custom-residential and commercial scopes here. We delivered stair fabrication and installation for Interior Health at Kelowna General Hospital. Two local conditions shape the brief: the semi-arid Okanagan climate (hot summers, intense UV, lake exposure) and the wildfire-interface zones on the city's hillside margins, where non-combustible steel railings, gates, and structures are a genuine safety advantage over wood.
Configurations we fabricate
Kelowna context
Kelowna's climate, building stock, and permit process shape every floating stairs project we deliver here.
Climate
Design snow load for Kelowna is roughly 1.9 kPa ground. Coastal exposure is none. Interior seismic zone, Okanagan valley; connections detailed per CSA W47.1. These are the numbers the engineer pulls when sizing steel for a floating stairs here.
Permits
City of Kelowna requires building permits for structural work, new stairs, and guardrails. Properties in wildfire-interface development permit areas carry additional FireSmart-driven requirements, confirm with the Kelowna development services department.
Local neighbourhoods
We work throughout Kelowna, including Downtown, Lower Mission, Upper Mission, Pandosy, Glenmore, Dilworth, Rutland, Black Mountain. Most sites are a 4 hours via the Coquihalla and Highway 97 drive from our Burnaby shop.
Cost for Kelowna
Installed pricing from our Burnaby shop. Mobilization to Kelowna is included for standard drive-time sites.
| Type | Installed cost |
|---|---|
| Standard hybrid floating stair Concealed stringer at one edge | $25,000, $40,000 |
| True cantilever floating stair, straight run Engineered wall pocket required | $35,000, $55,000 |
| True cantilever with glass guards Glass panels add structural glass spec | $45,000, $75,000 |
| True cantilever L-shape with landing Additional engineering at the landing | $50,000, $85,000 |
All figures include fabrication, finish, and installation. For a Kelowna-specific project quote, request a quote.
Process
1. Early design coordination. Because wall pocket framing has to be in place before drywall, floating stairs must be scoped during architectural design, not after.
2. Engineering. Structural engineering including wall pocket sizing, tread anchor specification, and connection details.
3. Framing coordination. We work with the GC and framer to ensure the wall pockets are built correctly before drywall goes up.
4. Fabrication. Tread armatures and hardware fabricated at our Burnaby shop.
5. Finishing. Powder coat on the steel armatures. Tread material (typically hardwood) finished separately.
6. Installation. Tread armatures installed into the wall pockets, treads mounted, and guards integrated.
Related products in Kelowna
Floating Stairs across Metro Vancouver
FAQs
Answers to the questions we hear most often from Kelowna homeowners, architects, and GCs on floating stairs projects.
Floating stair cost in Kelowna depends on the support method, tread material, railing, and span. The Burnaby delivery is handled as one planned install. <a href="/request-a-quote/">Request a quote</a> with your dimensions and we'll follow up with project-specific pricing.
Yes. A floating staircase meets the same BC Building Code guard and structural requirements as any stair, the support is concealed, not absent. Every floating stair we build carries a sealed P.Eng. drawing, and the City of Kelowna permit relies on it.
We fabricate the steel support and treads complete in Burnaby, confirm the wall and floor connections against the structural drawings, and install in one mobilization down Highway 97, the same model behind our Interior Health stairs at Kelowna General Hospital. Concealed connections leave no room for on-site improvisation.
Yes. On Upper Mission, Wilden, and Crawford Estates interface lots, an all-steel floating stair adds no combustible material at the core of the home. It complements, rather than replaces, the FireSmart measures on the building envelope.
Architect-led lakefront and hillside homes in Mission, Wilden, and Kettle Valley with double-height entries or open great rooms, where the stair is a sculptural element and the lake view shows through the open risers.
Get in touch
Send us drawings, photos, or a project description. We will review the scope and follow up with a quote covering engineering, fabrication, and installation from our Burnaby shop.
