Slim handrails, glazed link frames, gallery balustrades, brackets and small balconies for the timber framed houses, shops and converted farm buildings of Diss and the Waveney valley. Made in Norwich, 23 miles up the A140, and fitted with respect for what is already there.
Diss, about 23 miles south of Norwich on the A140.
Architectural steel in Diss
Oak that has stood for centuries should stay the main event. Our part is to add what is needed and nothing more.
Diss grew up round the Mere, and the streets climbing away from the water are lined with timber framed and rendered buildings. Farmhouses and barns of the same age stand out in the valley. Owners, architects and builders working on them want new metalwork that does not shout. Swift Fabrication makes architectural metalwork for Diss and the border villages, in mild and stainless steel.
In practice that means slender sections, flat bar and round bar in place of heavy box, and few fixings, each placed where it does least harm to old timber and lime plaster. We work to the drawings of your architect or conservation designer. Where steel has to carry load, the figures come from your engineer.
How we work, step by step
Slim flat bar and round bar
Free estimate, agreed price
Norfolk and Suffolk villages
Steel in period property
Three sorts of work keep coming up in a town of old timber frames and in the farmsteads along the Waveney. All of it is made to measure, because nothing in these buildings is standard.
Steep winder stairs, split levels and low galleries give an old house its charm and worry whoever has to use them. We make slender wall rails and balustrade panels in flat or round bar, shaped to the stair as it runs today, on small neat plates. Heights and gaps follow your designer's figures.
A glass link from a farmhouse to its outbuilding, or a garden room on the back of a cottage, often hangs on a slim steel frame. We fabricate posts, heads and corner frames to the engineer's sizes, drilled for your glazier and primed or galvanised as drawn.
Plates and straps where new oak meets old, brackets for shelves and hearth beams, a plain canopy over a back door, a Juliet balcony at a former hayloft opening. Small items, given the same care as a staircase.
Look first, steel second
Begin by sending what your architect has drawn, or photos and rough sizes if no architect is involved. Say what the building is, what its walls and floors are made of, and the look you are after: painted black, a dark bronze colour, brushed stainless. In a period room, finish and section size decide whether steel belongs.
Estimates are free and the price is agreed before we begin. Next we come to Diss and measure, which in a timber frame means recording the rake of the stair, the lean of the wall and the true height at each post, sometimes with a plywood template. Coatings can be arranged and lengthen the job, so your date comes once the design is fixed.
Lime plaster, wattle and daub or soft red brick? Say so when you enquire. It changes the fixings we bring and how we drill.
No architect involved?
Not every job has a designer behind it. If you own a cottage in Roydon or a shop near the market place and simply want a safe handrail or a tidy canopy, send a photo and some measurements. We will suggest sections and fixings that suit the age of the building, then help you develop the idea into a design we can make.
Two limits. We do not certify structures, so any calculations come from your engineer. And on a listed building, or in a conservation area, consent is yours to obtain before we make anything.
Our quote checklistDiss and the Waveney valley
The steel is fabricated in Norwich and driven the 23 miles or so down the A140 to Diss. Here the river is the county boundary, and we work on both banks: Roydon, Scole and Harleston in Norfolk, then Eye, Botesdale and the Mid Suffolk villages to the south. Expect one trip to measure and another to fit.
Barn conversions along the valley are welcome, and so are firms on Vinces Road or Sawmills Road wanting a smart entrance canopy or office stair. East Anglia is our patch and Diss sits well inside it.
All services in DissPeriod property questions
Listed status, fixing into old fabric, finishes, stair rails and the Suffolk side of the river.
Yes. We measure the stair as it stands, bends and all, and make a slim rail in round or flat bar on small fixing plates. If Building Control is involved, give us the height they want. If not, we will suggest a comfortable one.
We can make the metalwork, but listed building consent has to come from your side, normally through your architect, before we fabricate. We are glad to talk to them about sections, fixings and finish so that what they submit can be built.
Yes. Diss lies on the county boundary, so our run down the A140 takes in villages on both banks of the Waveney: Scole, Roydon and Harleston on the Norfolk side, Eye and Botesdale in Suffolk. We deliver and fit, or supply only to your builder.
Most people pick a dark matt paint or powder coat so the steel sits back behind the oak. Brushed stainless suits a modern glazed link. Either can be arranged in the colour you specify.
Often, if the timber is sound, but where any load is involved that is a question for your engineer or conservation architect. We make the plates, straps and brackets to their detail and fit them with care.
Structural steel in DissSwift Fabrication, Norfolk
Send the architect's drawings, or photos and rough sizes, or call 07495 409006. We will give a free estimate for architectural metalwork in Diss or the villages either side of the border.
