I’ve heard rumors that to accomodate this folks have used clear plexi (or sandblasted if you want to go for that look) attached to whatever the horizontal portion is – this may be a wear issue since this is exterior, I’m not familiar with how plexi performs outside. Or, perhaps some tight wire mesh. I’ve also heard rumors that the horizontal qualification may be going away, but that doesn’t help you right now… Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

I have the same problem with a modern house that I am renovating in Toronto. I will be curious to see how you solve your dilemma.
There is a good railing resource recently featured in a home in Dwell magazine, for a prefabricated aluminum rail system called speedrail sold by Hollaender – check out hollaender.com. The homeowners in the home in Dwell (I think the April issue) used the speedrail system both inside and outside the home. You have to purchase the individual components, but it looks good and has panel inserts with perforated metal that I like the look of. No Canadian distributors, so I can’t go that route. Good luck.

Dude, where’s your about page? I just found your blog linked from another I read and I am all about this stuff. This is facsinating stuff to watch and do. I reckon I’ll grab your feed, but would love background since I’m a latecomer.

We really should have an about page. We kinda hit the ground running by starting this blog 2 days after we broke ground.
Here are a few relevant posts.
Floor Plans
Original Floor Plan
All the Progess Report Posts
Photos (links to photos in the post)

Hello David and Christiane,
I do have a comment on your railing issue but let me briefly introduce myself. My wife and I live on Madison and have been observing the transformation of your house since you started construction. It wasn’t until the other day, however, that a friend told us about your blog. We laughed, we cried, and we’re glad to learn that you are remodeling not just flipping it and moving your kids out to the suburbs. (I know we’ve been tempted to do this.) Nice design by the way. I have to admit that I was a little concerned at first when I saw the second floor framing and roofline but that’s changed. It’s a very handsome and striking house. A nice improvement to the neighborhood.
Concerning the railing I ran into this same situation on a house that was going to get hogwire for the second floor deck. City inspector wouldn’t allow it. So, I used emt conduit sandwiched in between ipe. It came out looking very nice and was relatively inexpensive. The emt ran vertically however. (if you’re interested I have a picture of it) If you want to stick with the horizontal cabling you could attach Lexan on the house side of the cables. Plexiglass will yellow, get brittle, and scratch but the higher grades of Lexan can take the elements, stay clear, won’t scratch up, and they block UV rays for what it’s worth.
P.S. That’s one cute baby. Congratulations!