You state that the theme is mediterranean --so I don't see glass.

Maybe heavy wrought iron.

Are there pillars elsewhere in your house? I do t really see pillars workingwith glass. I think black metal is best.

An arched shape opening may be nicer than pillars for your theme. But only if you have arches elsewhere

Good point @Joseph Corlett, LLC I guess the glass would have to be installed sufficiently away from that landing but that would result in an even narrower staircase. Is that problem specific to glass. Even if it was metal, would it look good? I agree there is access to clean between balusters.

@roccouple there are other pillars I am planning in the house in the living room but these are the only ones near the staircase. I am unsure how they would look too. I will skip the arch as they are not in any other place.

I have no idea without seeing at least an inspiration pic or two of what you think of as mediterranean . The only thing I see in your idea books is a door. If that is what you are thinking then black metal is the way to go for the railing.

I like that railing, Res. It works for a Med theme but doesn't pigeonhole you, either, if you later decide to redecorate in another direction.

Also, note that the treads & risers are tiled. There are a ton of cool tiles that would work w/ a Med theme. I've seen stairs with wood treads & tiled risers that would also work.

I am curious about how the 2nd floor/ ceiling is being supported...looks like some supports are missing?

@ci_lantro the joists run left-to-right. It is supported. It is setback quite a bit, so it extends only till about the 5th step from the bottom of the 11 stairs. Those joists that protrude/extend all the way into the 2nd floor hallway (to the right) and are also the ceiling joists of the garage (whose entrance you can see at the rightmost side on the 1st floor). I am assuming the architect/contractor has done the calculations right. Let me know if you suspect any issues.

As @ci_lantro points out, what is holding up the landing? Exactly the front left corner as were looking at it? It appears to be floating and that can never be good.........................

I am assuming the architect/contractor has done the calculations right.

I found this w/ a quick search. It's deck specific but good enough I think for our purposes. Given that you have quite a bit of backspan (over the garage), it would appear that you're good w/ that cantilever. (No roof load to support in this situ.)

https://www.deckmagazine.com/design-construction/framing/cantilevers-in-the-2015-code_o

According to the new span tables and IRC provisions, cantilevers can extend up to one-fourth the backspan of the joist. This means that joists, such as southern pine 2x10s at 16 inches on-center, spanning 12 feet are allowed to cantilever up to an additional 3 feet (see illustration, below).

(I didn't check into how much you can cantilever LVL's so don't know if there is a diff between them & SYP.)

Looking closer, it appears this is a new build. When I first looked, I had it in my head that this was a reno. It didn't look like any posts/ walls could have been removed but ya just never know when you get into renos. Somebody ahead of you coulda' done something stupid. ;-)

Since you have a new build, you gotta' trust the pros. But IF you are concerned, pick up the phone and call your architect.

" It appears to be floating and that can never be good........................."

Sure it can, depending on how it's framed.