For staircases, form has always been as important as function.
Whether it’s in the grand entrance of a stately home, an uber-trendy loft apartment, or a more modest suburban semi, the staircase is an important design element, and a focal point.
"We regard a staircase as a piece of furniture," said Forrester Adam, managing director of Haldane. "It’s often the first thing you see when you enter a house so it really has to make a statement."
And whatever the setting, handrail manufacturers report that the current trend is for more contemporary, clean lines. "People are going away from fussy, big profiles; especially in high-end houses they’re going for oval handrails which fit the hand nicely," said Mr Forrester.
Balustrades and spindles are also slender profiles.
Timber’s warmth and feel make it a natural choice of material for something that is so often subject to touch, but it can be combined effectively with other materials. Kenny Macfarlane, managing director of Handrail Creations, said leather cladding is growing in popularity, as too are individual contemporary steel balusters, fixed to pre-drilled timber handrails.
Glass is also a popular contrast to timber, according to Paul Martin, channel marketing manager at Richard Burbidge.
"Glass is starting to replace timber infill as homeowners are looking to maximise space, creating the impression of a lighter, brighter entrance to the home," he said.
This desire for a contemporary look is also behind what Mr Macfarlane identifies as an increasing demand for continuous handrails. "A change in Building Regulations and an ever-expanding high-end residential market means that continuous handrails are very much in favour. Contractors are looking to do away with traditional newel posts and stairparts in the pursuit of something more sexy, more organic and genuinely safer," he said.
While Richard Burbidge reports a consumer preference for white oak because "it’s a clean, modern timber and is a good match for contemporary furnishing and living", in upmarket properties the trend is at the other end of the colour spectrum.
Here dark tones and ebonised handrails are in vogue, a trend and effect Mr Macfarlane demonstrated with the trophies his company designed and manufactured for last year’s TTJ Awards.
"We specialise in ebonising handrails using traditional French polishing techniques," said Mr Macfarlane.
Haldane has also noticed this trend for dark finishes, especially amongst its high-end clients in London’s Kensington, Chelsea and Hyde Park.
"Demand for maples and ash has slowed up and now they’re asking for American black walnut, sometimes wenge or ebonised finishes which can take up to seven coats of lacquer," said Mr Forrester, adding that these multiple coats were applied by hand. Tulipwood is also often used and stained to a walnut finish.
Ninety per cent of Haldane’s work is in London – "it’s like working around the Monopoly board", said Mr Forrester – but the company also does a lot of work for schools and universities, where ash, oak and beech are popular.
"They’re all hard-wearing species," he said. The company has also carried out work in most of the UK’s shopping centres, including Bluewater in Kent. In this market designers are asking for American cherry, steamed beech, oak and maple and a bigger profile. "It’s not a hold-on handrail; it’s a lean-on handrail in a big oval shape so people can’t put drinks on it," said Mr Forrester.
For some of London’s most exclusive residential addresses rare species such as Brazilian mahogany – bought from old stock – are used to create a feature, such as a marquetry line.
"We’re putting in some scarce species from old stock but they’re small quantities," said Mr Forrester.
And it is Haldane’s CNC capabilities, he added, that enable the company to keep abreast of new design trends and provide clients with bespoke products.
It was Haldane’s 5-axis CNC router that won it work in the Windsor Castle refurbishment following the fire in 1992. "At the time we probably had the first 5-axis CNC router in the UK that other companies could bring work to," said Mr Forrester.
Haldane now has one 3-axis and two 5-axis machines and is looking at investing in new 5-axis technology next year.
"It will improve machining lead times and give customers a good turnkey system," he said.
Handrail Creations’ recent catalogue of work includes 300 linear metres of continuous handrail for Glasgow University, and more than 900m of bespoke FSC-certified fumed oak for a major office and retail development in central London.
Residential projects include seven floors of bespoke helical European oak handrail, finished in a dark stain, for Falcon House in London’s Queen Anne’s Gate, as well as countless properties across the country.
And in production at the moment is a continuous handrail for an old stone staircase in the Grade 1 listed Houses of Parliament, a purpose-made ash handrail for Harvey Nichols in Birmingham and 70m of bespoke handrail in a "twisted clover profile" for the University of Essex.
"It’s one of the most challenging projects we’ve come across and something that I think only a handful of companies in Europe could produce," said Mr Macfarlane, adding that the company offered digital surveying and patented manufacturing methods.
For all handrail manufacturers, refurbishment is an important market as clients recognise it’s an effective way to upgrade or refresh a property.
"The stairparts market is growing as consumers become more aware of how quick and simple it is to upgrade stairparts, and the impact upgrading has on the look and feel of a home, as well as the added value," said Mr Martin.
And as Mr Macfarlane points out, it’s also a way of creating the next generation of heritage features.
"We’ve refurbished and matched traditional sweeping handrails that are nearly 200 years old and we expect our new ones to last that long too," he said.
