Kent

Residential Property

One of our favourite projects from 2016, the Kent staircase was the feature piece of a new home and needed a wooden handrail design that could hold its own against a steel balustrade already being fabricated by a blacksmith. Working directly for the client, our team surveyed the steel core rail and then designed, manufactured and installed a jet black ash handrail to sit on top of it.

Projects that bring together a timber balustrade element and metalwork from a separate specialist need the survey done properly at the start. Once the steel is fabricated there’s nothing to adjust, so the handrail has to be made to the core rail rather than the other way round.

Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations
Bespoke staircase handrail and balustrade – Handrail Creations

A Classic Frog’s Back Handrail in Ash

We presented the client with a range of bespoke wooden handrail design options before settling on a classic frog’s back profile. This is a traditional handrail shape, gently domed across the top with a shaped underside, and it sits comfortably in the hand on a long run of stairs. On a feature staircase it also gives the timber enough depth to register as a deliberate element rather than a strip of trim.

The handrail was manufactured in ash, chosen for its pale, even grain and the way it takes a stain. Our bespoke timber handrails are machined to profile rather than assembled from stock sections, which is what allows a shape like the frog’s back to run continuously through the turns of the staircase.

Jet Black Handrail, Stained and French Polished

Once machined, the ash was stained jet black and then French polished. Staining rather than painting keeps the grain of the timber visible under the colour, so the handrail reads as black wood rather than as a coated surface, which matters when it’s sitting directly against fabricated steel.

The handrails were installed and finished in less than a week. Close coordination with the blacksmith is what made that possible: because the steel core rail had been surveyed before manufacture, the timber arrived on site ready to fit against the balustrade rather than needing to be worked around it.

Looking for Bespoke Staircase Design?

Handrail Creations regularly works alongside blacksmiths, fabricators and staircase manufacturers, surveying existing metalwork and producing a timber handrail to match. Browse our residential projects for more examples or contact our team to discuss your staircase.

Frequently asked questions

A traditional handrail profile, domed across the top with a shaped underside so it sits comfortably in the hand. It’s machined to shape rather than assembled from stock mouldings, which lets it run continuously through the turns of a staircase.

Yes, and it’s a large part of what we do. At Kent the steel core rail was fabricated by a blacksmith, surveyed by our team, and the ash handrail was then manufactured to sit directly on top of it.

Staining colours the timber while leaving the grain visible, so the handrail still reads as wood. Paint coats the surface and hides it. On a staircase where the handrail sits against fabricated steel, keeping the timber character is usually the point.

Ash works well due to its pale, even grain that takes a stain consistently, so the finished colour is uniform along the full run rather than patchy.

It depends on the scale of the staircase, but the Kent handrails were installed and finished in under a week. Surveying the metalwork before manufacture is what keeps the on-site programme short.