Goldhawk Barn

We were approached by the new owners of this beautiful barn in the West Sussex countryside, who wanted to tastefully remodel the whole barn to be their family home. The property had an existing staircase from a previous renovation that was built in the early 90s with glass treads and a woeful disregard for safety…

The brief was to build a staircase to reach a mezzanine floor that would be practical and elegant, letting in lots of natural light but without taking up too much of the open space in the barn. It had to be utilitarian without being harsh and cold. The palate of materials for the renovation was to focus on exposed stone, original oak beams, and muted colours.

We designed a stair with open oak treads rested on an exposed structural steel spine. Large steel plates on the floor and wall interfaced boldly with the stone walls and oak floor but the steel was softened by applying a tactile graphite beeswax finish. The balustrade was modest in design but the straight lines were subtly broken by hand forging each of the balusters to give it a slight taper and add a rich hand-worked texture.

Mild steel universal column structure – graphite beeswax finish
Joinery grade English oak treads 40mm thick - stain and wax finish
Balustrades 16mm thick forged mild steel – graphite was finish
2300mm high x 1230mm wide x 3120mm long