British craftsmanship goes more than surface deep

When the owners of In Residence, Stephan and Shirley Marshall, were approached to represent the leading hardware brand, Joseph Giles, they realised the gap in the market for high-quality, traditional English hardware was about to be resolved.

“Our customers would come in for our tapware and fittings and would invariably ask us for help around finding high quality hardware for their new homes or renovations,” says Stephan, who adds how, for years, he was looking for a hardware brand that matched the exquisite nature of the other products sold by In Residence, but they all lacked the style and engineering quality he was looking for.

“John Harwood and his sons, Joseph and Giles, established their hardware company in London with a vision to produce beautifully designed and made products. It was not long before we partnered with them and launched Joseph Giles into New Zealand and Australia,” he says.

“The response from designers and discerning homeowners has been fantastic. They fully appreciate the individuality of the designs and the high level of engineering in each item. The complete package is so different to anything they have seen before.”

Interior design is all about the details; beautifully made and finished, decorative hardware is the ultimate final touch. Door hardware is more than just door handles. The door hinges and the latches and locks, with their door frame strike plates, are every bit as important as the handles themselves. The trained eye will notice these items, particularly when they do not match.

Joseph Giles has its own range of door hinges in all their distinctive finishes, a large range of sizes and styles and slot headed screws for that traditional detail. They have a collection of hinged and sliding door latches and locks, which of course come in the same finish as the knobs and levers.

We must mention privacy locks for bathrooms. This is an area where the Joseph Giles Collection comes into its own. Their design team has focused on individually designed privacy thumb turns for each handle style for the internal side of the door, with a complementary emergency release on the outside in case of a medical emergency within.

Careful consideration must be given to the door latches in a project. Often the existing latches work well but the internal workings may be worn. When there is the option to change the latches, the designer can now specify a latch from Joseph Giles with the correct strength of spring for the type of handle. A round or oval door knob only requires a light-weight spring. A lever handle requires a strong spring within the latch, which will hold the handle level, into the foreseeable future. This is what Joseph Giles provides—that quality of manufacture that allows a selection of spring strength.

When the existing latches are unable to be removed from the doors such as in a villa or bungalow, a new spring can be located within the handle rosette. Joseph Giles has designed a patented spring mechanism within its lever handle rosettes as an option, to accommodate its levers' installation onto existing doors. This makes life so much easier for the specifier and installer.

Merely having a comprehensive range of door pulls was not enough. Joseph Giles turned their attention to how these needed to be fitted. They designed options for screw-through from behind, secret-fix with no visible screw, back-to-back each side of the door and also fixings to fit pull handles to glass shower doors and mirror-fronted units.

With its ever-growing range of edge pulls and with many components made from marble, glass and leather, there are unlimited design options available to designers who want to create something beyond the ordinary.

“In Residence has a comprehensive range of Joseph Giles hardware on display in our Auckland showroom,” says Stephan. “We can also provide samples for client presentations and can order samples we do not have on display, from Joseph Giles in London.

“Many popular items fall within Joseph Giles’ SWIFT program and are available for dispatch within two weeks. Items to be made have a production time of four to eight weeks and then courier delivery to New Zealand.

“I am also excited to say that Joseph Giles has just released its first wall-mounted light fitting and the lighting design team will surely follow this with more lighting in the near future.”

In Residence specialises in traditionally designed luxury architectural hardware, tapware and bathroom fittings for discerning homeowners, many brands sourced from UK craftsmen, and exclusive to In Residence. Their range of products is extensive, and prime amongst it is the Joseph Giles hardware range.

Learn more about the quality architectural hardware and tapware available for your next project.