Alex Chinneck - A Spring in Your Step - made by millimetre

A Spring in your Step

Helical Spiral Staircase Sculpture with Alex Chinneck

Circus Street, Brighton, UK

December 2021

A Spring in Your Step is a 4 tonne, 27m high spiral staircase sculpture by the artist Alex Chinneck.

Alongside the multiple projects millimetre has worked closely with Alex Chinneck on, this striking art piece sits in the heart of a brand new development in central Brighton.

A Spring in your step took three years to complete, weighs four tonnes, is 25 metres tall, and follows a non-repeating, expanding and contracting helical form – making it my most complex sculpture to date.
Alex Chinneck

millimetre was the main contractor of this project which was installed over an occupied building, lasting five weeks. Our installation team consisted of two people on the ground and two people working in the air on a mobile platform.

The staircase was constructed in eight parts of helically rolled steel components, which were built flat in our workshop and then lifted into place on site via a crane. The components were sent to three different galvanising locations across the country due to the varied size and shape requirements for the baths.

Each of these galvanised sections are chemically anchored to the building slab at every other floor using specially engineered fixings, with multiple hinged brackets to allow movement. Both doors are hand painted and the cantilevered upper door is designed to withstand high wind loads.

Materials: Laser cut S355 mild steel and S355 tube with helically rolled components. All Galvanised to EN ISO 1461 [5]; 27m total height from the ground.; Total weight approx 4 tonnes