FOCAL recently had the pleasure of working on a beautiful high-end architectural project in Queenstown.
Aged brass handrail with LED
The project was beautifully designed by Elena Parry at Fremont Studio and we here at FOCAL love the result with what she has designed. Elena trusted us by allowing the artistic freedom to fabricate and design as we saw fit to achieve her overall vision. We are very fortunate to work closely with other skilled craftsmen who are at the top of their game in their own respective fields. Wedgerwood is a local joinery company who we continue to work with on multiple projects, making these challenging projects easier to execute. FOCAL’s scope for the project was the decorative metalwork elements of the build. This included a bespoke antique brass handrail with undermount LED strip lighting, antique brass door handles, antique brass beam covers, brass inlay to the bar counter, brass shelving rods for the bar, a cold-rolled steel woodstore inset into Wedgerwood’s joinery unit, and a hot-rolled steel woodstore for the garage.
Antique brass handrail with LED
Working with brass is always a challenge, but the results truly speak for themselves. The LED handrails are something that we get asked to provide more often, and we have come up with a great system to supply these. They are not exactly straightforward and are technical to execute. We need to have a machined rebate throughout the whole length of the handrail for the LED and diffuser to sit into, and have one of the handrail brackets hollow to allow wiring to be truly hidden. The result is worth it.
Brass handrail with rebate for LED
Thanks to our friends at Ambro Metals, we are able to source large brass sheets that are 3000mm long. For the beam covers, these worked perfectly and meant that we did not have to have any joins throughout the length. These were cut to size on our CNC profile cutting machine and folded to precision with our CNC press brake, which made light work of the brass.
Antique brass beam covers
All elements of the projects utilized different specialty metal finishing. All the brass was antique finished after the welding and brazing were metal finished and polished. They were then sealed with beeswax. The steel was kept scratch and blemish-free for the whole fabrication process with weld size and locations worked in smartly to hide as much as possible, and then sealed with beeswax.
Brass pull handles
As with most of our projects, we install what we make and ensure that what we make fits our site measurements and is installed to the quality that we expect.
Aged brass shelf rods
We are able to supply and freight items around New Zealand and beyond within reason.
Brass bar inlay
Our attention to detail and dedication to quality craftsmanship is evident in every aspect of this project. We take pride in our ability to deliver exceptional results that meet and exceed our clients' expectations.