Project Overview & Background
A curved balcony guard is harder than a curved stair rail, because a stair rail curves in two directions at once and can hide small discrepancies in the rake, whereas a balcony rail curves in plan only — perfectly level — so any deviation from a true arc is immediately visible against the horizontal line of the floor.
We set out this 22-foot Newport Coast balcony from a single centre point, laminated the oak cap to that exact radius, and set every post on a scribed arc rather than by measuring between posts. Measuring post-to-post accumulates error around a curve; setting from a centre point does not.
Structural Challenge:
The floor structure had a slight crown across the opening — normal in a span this size — meaning a truly level rail would have shown a varying gap to the floor. We split the difference, following the floor slightly so the reveal reads consistent to the eye.
Engineered Solution:
Radius set out from a single centre point, cap laminated to that radius, posts scribed to the arc rather than measured between.
It reads as one clean sweep from downstairs. That is what we were worried they would not get right.
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