£300,000 Marble Staircase to be manufactured locally
June 2007
Cunningham Stone Ltd. have recently secured a contract to manufacture and install a £300,000 solid marble curved staircase in a private residence in Co. Carlow. This complex project was turned down by a number of other stone companies in both Ireland and the UK as it was deemed too difficult to undertake.
The curved staircase will include over 500 different components incorporating balustrades, strings, skirting, solid treads and the handrail. “The difficulty with this staircase is that the client is insisting that it is self-supporting, which is a real architectural challenge”, says Alan Cunningham, Director. “Adding to the complexity of it is the fact that it is curved”.
The specified material is a white polished marble with a hint of blue through it, which is being imported by Cunningham Stone directly from Namibia, Africa. Radial tiles will be cut and shaped for the lower hall and upper balcony area.
Cunningham Stone recently expanded their manufacturing facility in Kilkeel at a cost of £2.5 million. This extension includes a primary sawing facility, a state of the art computerised production facility and a large warehouse. “Cunningham Stone have invested heavily over the past number of years in the most modern computerised technology available in the industry, allowing us to improve customer service and tackle really complex projects”, says Michelle Crawford, marketing manager.
The company, who have 90 employees, is involved in a number of other prestigious projects including cladding jobs at the new Ballymena Town Council building, a hotel in Plymouth, an apartment block in Dublin, shopping centres in Portadown and Cookstown and the restoration of St. Mark’s Church, Newtownards. They also supply solid surface worktops to the kitchen trade and have a range of natural stone hard landscaping products.
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