Historic
We were asked by our client North Tyneside Council to undertake damp proofing, repairs and redecoration to the Grade II listed decorative plasterwork of the chapel at Whitley Bay Crematorium. The chapel is an Arts and Crafts style building and contains some very fine quality Arts and Crafts style plaster decoration and similar style wooden fittings. The plaster, designed by George Percy Bankart – one of England’s leading plasterers of the early 20th century – details vines, grapes, angels and curved cornices which stretch up to the peak of the vaulted ceiling.
4 weeks
Great care and attention was required to remove the existing damp and mould spores, rejuvenate the plasterwork and restore the decorative angels and wreaths. The Grade II plaster decals could have been lost altogether without the appropriate planning and preventative measures.
We jointly scoped the site with the Council before mobilisation of the project to ensure all anomalies or difficult elements were identified, reviewed and specified correctly. With listed building status, early collaboration on technical advice was imperative to determine the best scope of works for the project, allowing for early engagement with the Conservation Officer and our supply chain to attain the best possible delivery plan.
The plaster decals were saved as we were able to have a specialist recaster come to the project early and take moulds and traces of the existing structures, ensuring their detail would never be lost but also allowing plenty of lead-in time so that the best possible repair could be cast off-site, reducing the time for works on-site and therefore minimising the time the Crematorium needed to be closed.
