Forward Bank Railing System – Marshfield, WI

After experiencing years of growth, Forward Bank needed a larger office to fit their changing needs. They worked with The Redmond Company to build the perfect facility that promotes productivity. Forward Bank in Marshfield, Wisconsin now has a streamlined office building complete with numerous community spaces, outdoor work areas, and spacious offices.

Commercial Railing System:

When The Redmond Company designed Forward Bank’s new main office, they wanted to optimize the building’s natural lighting. This practice, often called daylight harvesting, typically uses large windows and glass doors to bring in sunlight. In order to not disrupt the path of the natural light, the architects chose our Ithaca Style cable railing for both the interior and exterior of the bank. The slender posts, thin cable infills, and flat top rail allow the passage of light through the railings. Because of the nearly-transparent railing design, the sunlight can flow through the windows and railings then spread across the office interior which maintains the open feeling.

Our team crafted cable railings for the interior atrium balconies, exterior decks, and the entrance ramp on the outside of the building. For the interior, we designed a cable railing system that encloses two separate balconies in the open, three-story atrium. The commercial-grade railings feature stainless steel posts with a brushed finish. Each post is 42″ high and fascia-mounted to the outer edge of the balcony. The railings feature 3/16″ diameter stainless steel cable infill and hidden tensioners.

We also designed a unique top rail for the railing system. The Redmond Company requested a Douglas fir wooden handrail with an ultra-thin profile. In order to provide the wood top rail with the necessary support, we crafted a custom metal sub rail made from 1/2″ x 2″ solid flat bar that sits beneath the 3/4″ x 3″ wood top rail. The flat bar sub rail is attached with hidden screws to the top of each post. The flat bar is drilled and countersunk for the wood rail to attach from underneath with wood screws. We used this same top rail combination for all the exterior railings as well. 

The exterior railing system varies slightly from the interior railing. Instead of stainless steel posts and rails, the exterior railing features galvanized steel posts and rails that were welded and painted on site. We also designed the interior and exterior railing systems with different mounting styles. On the interior, the posts are fascia-mounted using stainless steel mounting plates and bolted in place. In contrast, the posts on the exterior decks are welded to galvanized steel tubing and channel for a strong connection with no visible mounting hardware. This gives the railing a streamlined, simple look. For the entrance ramp, we designed railing posts that mount to the surface of the concrete walk.  The ramp cable railing is secured with 3/8″ stainless steel threaded rod, nuts, and epoxy.