HLF
Choosing materials

Timber species for handrails

The species decides the weight in the hand, how the surface takes light and how the run ages. Here is what sets them apart, and when each one fits.

Curved handrail in pale timber on a glass and steel balustrade in Krokslätt

Twelve species, one handrail

We make handrails in twelve species. Choose by the floor or stair you already have, by how hard the run will be used, and by whether it stands indoors or out.

  • ✓Oak, beech, ash, maple and birch
  • ✓Walnut, cherry, mahogany and elm
  • ✓Accoya, larch and pine

The species

  • Oak — timber sample with visible grain
    Oak
  • Beech — timber sample with visible grain
    Beech
  • Ash — timber sample with visible grain
    Ash
  • Mahogany — timber sample with visible grain
    Mahogany
  • Accoya — timber sample with visible grain
    Accoya
  • Elm — timber sample with visible grain
    Elm
  • Birch — timber sample with visible grain
    Birch
  • Pine — timber sample with visible grain
    Pine
  • Cherry — timber sample with visible grain
    Cherry
  • Larch — timber sample with visible grain
    Larch
  • Maple — timber sample with visible grain
    Maple
  • Walnut — timber sample with visible grain
    Walnut

Examples from our projects

  • Double oak handrails in a stairwell at Finngösaparken
    Finngösaparken · Oak
  • Oak handrail with an end curve returning to the wall
    Finngösaparken · Oak
  • Curved clear-lacquered oak handrail along the glass balustrade at Mall of Scandinavia
    Mall of Scandinavia · Clear-lacquered oak
  • Double timber handrails along a curved corridor wall in the Opera House
    Oslo Opera House · Lacquered maple and oiled oak
  • Mahogany handrail along an outdoor stair in galvanised steel
    Outdoors · Mahogany
  • Leather-wrapped handrail with a stainless steel end cap
    Leather-wrapped · Beech

Oak – when in doubt

Oak is hard, stable and the species we use most. Oiled oak keeps a matt surface that can be touched up in patches; lacquered oak gives harder protection but has to be sanded back in full when it is redone. The Oslo Opera House has 300 metres of oiled oak, and Mall of Scandinavia over a kilometre of clear-lacquered European oak.

Light and calm

Maple is almost white and very dense, with barely visible grain – the quietest surface we make. Birch is light without being white. Beech is dense, almost without figure, takes stain evenly, and is the rail beneath our leather-wrapped handrails. The Opera House has 350 metres of lacquered maple.

Dark and warm

Walnut is the darkest timber we work in. Cherry darkens more visibly over the years than any other, and mahogany is red-brown and heavy. Elm has a wavy grain in which no two runs come out alike.

Curved runs

Ash is tough and bends willingly, with long fibres and marked grain – worth considering when the handrail is to follow a winding stair.

Outdoors

Outdoors, rain, sun and frost work on a handrail all year. Accoya takes up far less moisture and moves little; mahogany and larch are durable without modification.

See it in the hand

Screens render timber differently. Order samples before you decide – for architectural practices they are normally free of charge.

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