Dezeen Magazine

Foster + Partners FSB 1291 door handle

Foster + Partners Industrial Design team gives distinctive edge to door handles for FSB

Promotion: Foster + Partners Industrial Design team has collaborated with German door handle brand FSB to launch a door handle collection that conveys the architecture firm's attention to detail.

Foster + Partners' industrial design team created the FSB 1291 and FSB 1292 door and window handles for FSB, which are regarded as a premium solution for civic and commercial spaces.

The cornerstone of the product family is FSB 1291 – a handle that combines a distinctive shortness with a flattened top edge, giving it a pronounced contact surface.

Photo of aluminium door handles in the process of being made
The handles are available in Aluminium Pure, a signature FSB finish

FSB 1291 with its pebble-like softness is designed to be pleasurable for both the hand and eye and was moulded to fit the palm. FSB describes the product's subtly refined design as elevating the overall experience of moving through a building.

"When we take hold of a lever handle, this is often our first contact with a building," said head of Foster + Partners Industrial Design, Mike Holland. "A coherently designed handle provides a warm welcome – through looks and haptic qualities geared towards utility and inspired by people's needs."

The initial design of the FSB 1291 shaped the rest of the product family, which includes FSB 1292 – a handle with a longer grip.

Close-up photo of a worker polishing a silver-coloured metal door handle
Foster + Partners designed the FSB 1291 door handles to have a shorter, flatter shape

Further enhancing the tactility of the handles is the option of FSB's new finish: Aluminium Pure. The brand describes it as "a visual and tactile advance and at the same time particularly sustainable", as the usual final steps in aluminium processing are eliminated, leaving a raw appearance that makes the product easily recyclable.

According to FSB, making aluminium in this way also uses less energy and water.

1292 FSB is part of Declare, which is a "nutrition label" for building products designed to help specifiers identify products that meet their project requirements.

According to FSB, Declare discloses all intentionally added ingredients or residuals present in the final product by weight, which is at or above 100 parts per million – 0.01 per cent.

Photo of various loose door and window handles strewn across a desk
The design language of the 1291 is continued across the product family

The FSB 1291 and 1292 handles are also offered in standard aluminium, stainless steel and bronze – metals that according to FSB have a long life and suit a wide variety of architectural concepts. They come in a variety of versions for different requirements and an EN 179-compliant model.

Founded by Norman Foster in 1967, Foster + Partners is one of the world's leading architecture firms, known for buildings such as London's Gherkin and California's Apple Park.

The firm also has a long history of industrial design, including pieces like the Arc table for Italian brand Molteni&C.

FSB was founded in 1881 by Franz Schneider, a maker of antique-style cabinet fittings and brass devotional items who eventually came to focus on hardware for doors and windows.

For more information on the FSB 1291 and 1292 handles, visit the FSB website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for FSB as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.