‘Black Lace’ Wrought-Brass Staircase

With the skilful hands, creative acumen and knowhow of its craftsmen, every historical epoch built its own portfolio of staircases of every description in the styles then in existence, complete with the magnificent balustrades, meant to adorn its sumptuous royal palaces and mansions of the nobility. Regardless of the choice of interior décor style, the staircase was always the centerpiece of a house. As such, it was not sufficient for the staircase to be in accord with the architecture and interior design of the house, but it had to underscore the lofty status of the home’s proprietors.

The ‘Black Lace’ balustrade by Metal Workshop is a 17-meter long structure combining wrought-brass artwork and a cast, polished brass handrail. Together with the stairs it forms the centerpiece of Club Apartments at Bolshaya Polyanka. The forged ornament of the balustrade incorporates brass parts and cut-glass pieces framed inside the elliptical contours of the balustrade’s wrought-brass tracery. The light, transparent glass is essential to the overall harmony as it offsets the certain visual heaviness of the black wrought lacework. The transparent ellipses naturally blend in with the lacework pattern, highlighting the integrity and delicate traceried character of the entire composition.

At the very bottom of the staircase, right before the rise begins, the ‘Black Lace’ balustrade has two newel posts topped by decorative snails and spheres.  On the right side, where the balustrade adjoins the wall, custom curved sections had to be installed. The wrought balustrade and the brass handrail were manufactured to curvilinear templates repeating the actual staircase to a T. Try to imagine how much work this was! Our team had to manufacture more than 7 curvilinear sections for the wrought tracery leaf of a 17-meter long balustrade.

The brass handrail is a masterpiece in its own right. Elegantly understated and natural on the face of it, the handrail required a lot of excruciatingly painstaking work by our highly professional team at Metal Workshop. The mold for the handrail and its surface polishing were all done by hand. The joints on the handrail were not welded, but seamlessly joined with a maximum clearance of 0.2mm. The handrail looks cast-in-block throughout its 17-meter length. The ‘Black Lace’ balustrade was manufactured and mounted in several consecutive make-or-break phases. One was about the onsite fitting and manual tweaking of the brass handrail before installation.

It was the genius idea of Metal Workshop designers to combine the wrought-brass tracery of the balustrade with a polished brass handrail that looks a lot like gold leaf. In the ‘Black Lace’ staircase design, the black wrought-brass tracery of the balustrade and the golden outline of the handrail are merged together in a thoughtfully designed framework that has the flights of stairs flanked by strong yet gentle bands of openwork tracery, running on either side of the steps.

The juxtaposition of black and gold is a timeless design statement that spells chic, charm, and noble elegance better than any other color combination. It is the sine qua non hallmark of luxury and distinguished style that goes back to the times of Roman emperors and Egyptian pharaohs, who lived and ruled in style and luxury. The exquisite Black & Gold pair looks its finest in a roomy interior: it craves plenty of space in which to enshrine its powerful dominance. The ‘Black Lace’ balustrade rules the space – you know this as soon as you cast a fleeting glance upon it. But when you touch the golden handrail and take a few steps up the stairs, you realize you are in the presence of something truly extraordinary, something so delicate yet solid, majestic and ineffably beautiful. This breathtaking masterwork was brought forth by the skill, attention, patience, and professional touch of Metal Workshop masters.