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Kew · 2025
Blackened steel stair balustrade, Kew
A blackened mild steel and glass balustrade to a three-flight floating staircase, template-fitted to a stair that had already been built.
The brief
The builder engaged us after the staircase was framed and the treads installed. The architect wanted a minimal blackened steel frame with structural glass infill and no visible fixings from the living area. The stair had a 14 millimetre variation in the string line across the three flights, and the balustrade had to satisfy the barrier requirements without the frame growing to hide it.
Our approach
Rather than fabricate from the architect's drawings, we produced a full-height template on site and set the balustrade out from the stair as built. The frame was detailed as three flight-length sections with concealed splices at the landings, so the variation was absorbed at the joints rather than accumulating. Glass was ordered only after the frame was trial-fitted. The blackened finish was applied as a sample panel first and signed off by the architect and owner before the full run was finished.
The outcome
The balustrade reads as a single continuous line across all three flights. All fixings are concealed within the stringer and landing structure. The barrier was inspected and passed without a re-attendance.
Scope of works
- Site template of three stair flights and two landings
- Blackened mild steel balustrade frame with concealed splices
- Toughened laminated structural glass infill
- Continuous graspable handrail to both flights
- Sample panel produced for architect and owner sign-off
- Protected installation in a completed home
Project details
- Client type
- Residential builder, custom home
- Location
- Kew, Victoria
- Completed
- March 2025
- Extent
- Three flights, two landings, 21 m total run
- Frame
- Mild steel flat bar and tube
- Infill
- Toughened laminated structural glass
- Finish
- Blackened mild steel, clear lacquered
- Program
- 5 weeks from template to installation
We work throughout Kew
High-specification residential metalwork — feature balustrades, entry gates and exposed steel for custom homes and renovations.
Kew service areaGallery
Detail and installation
Concealed splices at each landing absorbed the variation in the built stair. Glass was ordered only after the steel frame was trial-fitted on site. The finished barrier reads as one continuous line across three flights.
Our stair was already built and it was not perfectly true. Northline templated the whole thing rather than working off the drawings, and absorbed the variation at the landings. Standing at the bottom you would never know.
Priya Raman
Director, Raman Constructions
See the project in KewMore work
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