Oak Staircase – Continuous Handrail

For this project our client, who was in the process of fully refurbing her existing property, was looking to renovation her existing staircase, which previously had been fully panelled in with and plastered. This existing staircase blocked light and made her already dark hallway, feel small and claustrophobic. The design remit was to create the opposite.

For this we sought to remove her existing balustrade and replace the plaster boarding with clear glazing. This has the effect of allowing light from the upper landing area flood down into the hallway, making it feel bigger and more welcoming to visiting guests.

The client chose to use American White Oak for the bulk of the renovation, as well whilst keeping her steps as well as her inner stringer in White. This creates a warm contrasting staircase with the white elements helping to lift the Oak and make it feel stand out.

The most intricate feature of this staircase is the continuous handrail. Rather than have large newel posts with newel caps, which can be likely places for hanging coats as well as placing cups of tea, where replaced with wonderful flowing mitres. This increased the flow and did away with what may have otherwise be blocky visual impediments.