Sector: Ecclesiastical
Main Contractor: William Anelay
Architect: Craig Hamilton Architects
Services
• Manufacture and installation of architect designed plaster mouldings
• Lime plastering
• Lime Rendering
Award-winning architect Craig Hamilton designed this private chapel as a place of worship for up to 30 people, sited in the grounds of a private lodge. Although this was a new-build project, the vision included a wide range of architect-designed decorative and ornate features, made using traditional lime-based materials and techniques. The large-scale project involved many complex operations that required in-depth technical knowledge and extreme precision taking a total of six months to complete.
Most of the casting was carried out at the Ornate Interiors workshop and then transported to be fitted jig-saw-like on site. The Nave and Vestibule Ceiling:-
• First a large number of curved panels were made to form the base of the coffers for the nave and vestibule.
• Ribs were manufactured to go across the width and breadth of the ceiling to create a series of coffers with joints and mitres prepared on site by hand.
• Two different-sized lunettes were made with the added complexity that each curved to the face and sides whilst running between the wall columns at a radius with the ceiling coffers.
• Beam moulds were made for the apse and the vestibule end of the ceiling.
• Over 60 rosettes were modelled in clay, poured in silicone rubber, cast in plaster and then fitted.
• Vestibule rosettes were made in 11 separate sections and bedded in individually. The forming of The Apse:-
• The apse was formed in three 2.4 metre sections.
• Models for the ribs were run on the apse mould whilst in the workshop and cast off into five moulds of diminishing sizes.
• Four types of complementary rosettes from the architect’s drawings were modelled in clay before being cast and installed into each coffer on the apse.
• An anthemion model was carved in timber, poured in rubber and cast in plaster plates before being installed in the top of the apse along with a flute mould.
Plastering between each of the columns was carried out using a natural hydraulic lime plaster applied in three coats. The external lime harling was also applied in three coats, the final coat being mixed with pebble aggregate to give the required rough finish.
The project won the coveted Plaisterers Trophy in 2006. The judges commented:
“ The commitment of everyone in this company made the job very special. The end result can only be described as stunning.”
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