the decimus burton house

EXTERNAL STAIRS AND RAILINGS - TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT

Studio four point ten were appointed as architects for works to this Grade II listed property in Tunbridge Wells, Kent This was a recently converted Victorian townhouse originally designed by the foremost English Architect, Decimus Burton and the client came to us looking for a well considered design for a new external staircase access and architectural metalwork.

Studio four point ten have extensive experience as architects working on historic sites and listed buildings, carrying out conservation repair and restoration works to buildings across Bath and London. These including the Roman Baths Complex in Bath, the Grade I listed Nash’s House in Stratford-upon-Avon as well as multiple West End theatres in London.

Having prepared a detailed proposal for the scheme, largely through the use of computer modelling to develop ideas for the new architectural metalwork, we then took to the workshop to fabricate and machine a full-scale working sample of the mild steel railing and oak handrail connection. This not only allowed us to test out different oak handrail profiles to find the best fit in the hand, but helped with communicating the design and construction back to the client.

technical drawing taken from the 3D computer model of the steel and stone stair to show the steel railing metalwork and solid oak handrail connections.
photo of the full scale handrail sample tig welded in mild steel to test the stair handrail and railing design, formed using solid square section steel bars for the railing and a deeper 10mm flat bar for the angled top rail. As seen here in natural m
Photo of the finished steel handrail sample with solid oak capping attached using concealed fixings. The square section oak rail is finished with an OSMO wax oil. Here the tig weld is left on show as a feature in the finished joint.
Photo of the finished steel handrail sample (from top angle) with solid oak capping attached using concealed fixings. The square section oak rail is finished with an OSMO wax oil. The oak capping is side fixed on the outside edge of the steel railing
A photo of a smaller test weld piece of the mild steel railing sample, trialled in our workshop ahead fo the real thing.
Underside view of the mild steel handrail sample showing the concealed screw fixings used to fix the oak handrail to the side of the main railing. This connection consists of a flat steel plate tig welded to the side of the railing with countersunk s
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