A bespoke package of balustrades and associated steelwork from Sapphire Balustrades is providing function with style in an international media company’s new London offices. Glass and stainless steel balustrades, with custom-detailing such as illuminated handrails and back-painted glass panels, are installed to stairways and atrium voids in the state-of-the-art office accommodation in Camden.

Sapphire manufactured and installed all internal balustrades and also supplied the large steel structure for the central staircase. The comprehensive product package was supported by Sapphire’s unique personal service from concept to completion, ensuring a high quality installation which satisfied the aesthetic specification and met functional and regulatory requirements.

The project to create 35,000 sq ft of office accommodation for the media company’s London-based team involved demolishing part of an existing building on the site and adding a brand new building, designed to BREEAM ‘Very Good’ standards. Sapphire’s Crystal frameless structural glass balustrades, uninterrupted by posts or balusters, provide light enhancing solutions to stairways and galleried landings in the new building’s open plan atrium. Balustrades comprise 21.5mm laminated and toughened safety glass infill panels, some of which feature a grey back-painted band at the base to conceal the structural supports, or ‘stringers’, for stair treads.

LED illuminated handrails provide an eye-catching design feature for the building’s main staircase, and ensure a safe pathway in low light. The stairway’s Crystal balustrades, manufactured by Sapphire using 1,300mm high glass infill panels, have discreet channel fixings. LED lighting is fitted to the underside of the 42mm diameter satin polished handrails, which provide a neat, natural conduit for the wiring system. In this application mini LED Spotlights (Puck Lights) were used rather than traditional strip lighting.

Additionally, Sapphire provided complementary balustrades with 19mm glass infill panels and stainless steel handrails to access ramps for the less able, as required by Document M of the Building Regulations. Handrails for balustrades throughout the installation are offset from the glass infill panels to provide smooth, continuous support for all users.

Summing up, Nick Haughton, Sapphire’s Marketing Manager, says: “This prestigious commercial project demonstrates Sapphire’s manufacturing expertise and the design flexibility of our distinctive core systems. This unique combination means that we can create beautiful balustrades to suit individual design specifications without the extra cost and time normally associated with a bespoke solution.”