Yorkshire based staircase manufacturer Bisca wins prestigious award

The free-floating helical design sits within the open plan kitchen and living area and is only connected to the fabric of the building at the head and the foot.

The large, solid timber treads are supported by a slim, white-painted structure with a sweeping, plastered soffit to the underside.

The timber treads are beautifully rustic in appearance with movement showing from their previous life. To maintain the structural integrity of the treads, Bisca created bronze butterfly ties, which also form an attractive detail.

Each tread was hand-crafted in Bisca’s workshop by creating blocks of timber from the lock gate, which were then finished to the exact shape and size. The design also features a balustrade made of heavily textured mild steel uprights which are fixed directly into the treads and handrails.

Round-section oak handrails flow onto the landings and at the foot of the stairs they transition into feature newel posts which match the uprights. The curvaceous form continues onto the first floor where Bisca also created the curved landing extension.

Richard McLane, Design Director of Bisca, says: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won. The winning project is particularly special as it gave new life to a previously used material, which is something I care passionately about personally.

"The timber from the old lock gate added a unique character to the design and helped create the perfect balance of the staircase being a central feature in the home whilst reflecting the building’s history.”

Richard, a time-served blacksmith, set up BISCA 30 years ago and has progressed from a one man band with paper sketches to a design studio with the very latest design technology, a traditional forge and cutting-edge machinery.He now employs over 20 people.

Every Bisca staircase is individually designed and built entirely in the company’s own workshop and examples of their work can now be found in cottages and mansions and top class hotels.

Each staircase is the handiwork of a dedicated team of multi-skilled craftspeople who work across a range of disciplines, including metalwork, cabinetmaking, blacksmithing, stitching and spraying and these century old skills are married with modern technology.

While design and craft are what drive Bisca, the company is also motivated by making the business’s carbon footprint as small as possible.

Investment in recent years means that heating for the workshop is supplied by a wood pellet boiler, and 80 per cent of electricity needed on-site comes from solar panels.

Find BISCA at www.bisca.co.uk