CRAFTSMEN at Allerford Forge have produced over 750 bespoke stainless steel flowers and 4,500 leaves for the prestigious Chelsea Barrack development.

The blacksmiths were awarded the unique opportunity to work in collaboration with London-based designer Tord Boontje to develop the designs and make the metalwork used to decorate the Townhouse balustrades of the exclusive development.

Chelsea Barracks is a housing development built on the former Army barrack which was brought by the Qatari Diar and is the most expensive piece of land purchased in British history. The properties are due to cost from £5.75 million.

Each balcony has a different combination of 12 flowers – all commonly found in Britain. The flowers include wild, garden and winter roses, almond blossom, carnations, peonies, cosmoses, violets and anemones.

West Country Blacksmiths received high praise for this project and a team from Chelsea Barracks filmed them at work for promotional materials and a documentary due in 2020.

Tord said: “Nowadays, it’s not so common to find blacksmiths – and especially really good ones. The better the blacksmith is, the higher the quality of the craftsmanship and the more beautifully my designs will be translated. So I spent a lot of time researching blacksmiths in Britain, and visited many different workshops.

“Eventually, I struck on West Country Blacksmiths, an exciting and accomplished team of metalworkers operating out of a 17th century forge in Somerset.

“They are very highly skilled – a very energetic young team who are a pleasure to work with. And they have a very nice way of interpreting my designs and making them into metal.”