An entrepreneur had acquired a property at the entrance to Red Rocks Amphitheatre and saw the opportunity of turning it into an awe-inspiring wedding venue. The preexisting stair railings on the building were old and did not enhance the building’s aesthetics. It was not up to par with the vision the client had. He wanted the stair railings to mimic grand staircase railings for a gorgeous wedding backdrop. Now, it was our job to create a truly awe-inspiring stair railing for him!
The client completely rebuilt the steps in preparation for the new stair railings. In doing this he added a slight taper to the entry stairs. He wanted an exceptional railing design and layout including a beautiful flare on the bottom of stairs. An elegant radius was formed by the railings on both sides of the stairs, which welcomed guests up into the venue. To increase visual impact, we designed a level terrace railing in the front of the building as well.
The client selected a stair railing that included hand-forged scrolls from ¾” square solid aircraft grade aluminum bar. Custom-cast knuckles were added to provide an intricate layer of detail. To elevate the design to the next level, the client added his own signature, custom cast bronze coins.
For commercial railing code, we designed the stair railing to be 42” tall and with a handrail at 36” high. The flair at the bottom of the stair railing added a layer of challenge for the multiple railing heights. The top and bottom bar were 1 ½” by ½”, all pickets were ¾” square bar, and the cap rail and handrail were two 1 ¼” wide. We core drilled into the masonry steps the 1 ½” square railing posts. To polish off the look, we hid the core drilling with escutcheon shoes.
The entire railing project was custom created, blasted, pretreated, and primed. Next, we mixed a custom powder-coat color to blend in with the color of the native rock. To finish, we transported the entire project to the site and installed it with a 2-part epoxy grout. Doing this allowed the beautiful stair railing to be solid and secure for generations of use at this one-of-a-kind wedding venue.
