Manor House Loggia Handrails, Fire Place, balcony railing and Balustrade
Donkeywell forge was approached to be involved with a project that required a number of ironwork pieces including a fire basket, grilles, Juliette balcony railing panel, balustrade and loggia stair handrails for the grade I listed property. All the ironwork required traditional designs, construction and some sand casting to suit the properties historical features.
Loggia Handrails
Provided with an image of a set of handrails from the private clients previous property, Donkeywell forge was tasked with recreating the handrails down to the fine details of the aged steel. We achieved this by forging bespoke components to use for the bar decoration. This created the incising on the steel that could be seen in the image. We worked very closely with the clients to reach the desired aesthetic. Providing them with samples for their consideration during the design proceess. Once each of the bars had been forged, we accentuated the markings on the steel by burnishing and sealing the steel to keep as much texture and blackened colouration as possible. We fitted the handrails into the steps and traditionally lead caulked around the bases.
Internal Balustrade
For this element of the project we developed and designed a balustrade to fit comfortably on the basement stairs. The design needed to reflect the surrounding architecture and could not be fixed into the tops of the treads because of restricted tread width. As a solution, we designed and forged decorative rosettes to allow us to fix to the external edge of the stairs. We also forged all the bars and finished the ironwork in a blackened burnished steel to highlight the texture and tones of the steel and compliment the surrounding timber and stone.
Fire Place
With design intent provided by the client, we worked closely to develop a design that was practical and worked aesthetically with the surroundings. To achieve the visual elements we introduced traditional forge construction elements such as swellings and tennoned bars. The fire place also required a grille and removable ash trays all to fit within the historical setting.
Juliette Balcony Railing Panel
Provided with a drawing by the designer, Donkeywell forge worked closely with the clients and designers to refine the balcony panel’s design. We discussed the possibility of casting decorative bronze rosettes from a sample that was already on site. We made a pattern from the sample provided and then produced a cast sample of our own, complete with pitting and incising exactly how the sample provided had been. We wanted to achieve this so the rosettes looked aged. We also produced samples for the proposed traditional assembly methods and twisted bar elements.These were quickly approved and so moved onto full assembly.
