EYE-CATCHING IRON

China produced the first examples of cast iron in the 6th century BC by using varying degrees of heat to fortify the raw material which they then formed into decorative moulds. The result produced durable and decorative design elements in buildings with exposed structural elements and, by the 1700s, casting iron had become an integral process to the construction industry on a worldwide scale.

The hospitality specifiers in this week’s lineup have conserved historic cast iron detailing or commissioned modern-day ironworks to make doors, staircases and the like.

From elaborate banister spindling to hatched window covers, here are five hospitality design projects that rule this mode of metalworking with an iron fist…