-A presentation by Locker & Riley

For 2008 Plaisterers Trophy

THE PROJECT

Locker & Riley believes the plasterwork created at Hanover Lodge to be an exceptional nature and standard and hereby submits the works for consideration for the Residential Plaisterers Trophy. In particular, Locker & Riley would like to submit the Main Hall and Main Stairs for the Trophy.

In terms of architectural accuracy, artistic excellence and sheer scale, the drawings andrepresentations received from Quinlan & Francis Terry for the Hanover Lodge works were astonishing.

“A project like this is very rare and very special, and Locker & Riley feel privileged to have contributed in its completion. A new benchmark has been set” – Jon Riley, Managing Director.

In addition to the quality, the quantity of fibrous plaster in this project has been immense, with 70% of the decorative plasterwork being produced and installed by Locker and Riley. The strength of the relationship with the contractor and architect and the confidence they showed in Locker & Riley was instrumental in overcoming the many challenges faced within such a demanding project.

The demands in terms of program, co-ordination and project management further makes Hanover Lodge an appropriate project for submission for the Residential Plaisterers Trophy.

Typical M.O

Receipt of drawing from the architect.Survey of each area, ensuring viability of the scheme.Discussing details, considering the production requirements.Assessing depths, thickness and base materials.Initial modelling.Approval of model by the architect.Mould manufacture.Assessment of individual components.Cast production.Delivery.Assessment of loads.Gridwork.Ply Soffit.Installation.

All works required detailed, stage by stage, client approval. The entire project was carried out in con-stant liaison with the Main Contractors; Walter Lilly and the Architect; Quinlan and Francis Terry.

“For us it has been a pleasure working with professionals at the highest level, both from an architec-tural and main contractor’s perspective. This is, by far, the highest level of quality and workmanship I have ever experienced in my 25 years of service. In one single project, we have seen the embodiment of all the skills and all that is special about the fibrous plaster art.” - Kevin Ackland, Contract Director.

Hanover Lodge – Regents ParkHanover Lodge was built in about 1827 by Decimus Burton, and later remodeled by Sir Edwin Lutyens circa 1910.

In 1947 much of Lutyens work was removed when the building became a Hall of Residence for Bedford College. It was in 1995 that the college left and the unsightly additions that the college had made in the 1960s were removed and the Crown Estate offered a lease of the building for use as a private dwelling.

It was in 1995 that the renowned architects Quinlan & Francis Terry, who specialize in the design of high quality classical buildings, became involved in Hanover Lodge.

Quinlan Terry drew up plans which made the existing “adhoc” design into a symmetrical classical house. A wing was added, balancing out the existing lutyens wing; large reception rooms were added to the back and a giant ionic portico was designed for the front with symmetrical gate lodges to the park entrance.

The Main Hall is a complete new build reconfiguration within the existing structure. This hall was created by removing the existing floor from the original house to make a double height base, lit by a newly formed elliptical skylight symmetrically placed within the new ceiling. The Hall in-spired by Inigo Jones’s Queens House in Greenwich (1616-35) and by the Stone Hall in Hough-ton Hall in Norfolk (1734) by Colen Campbell, James Gibbs and William Kent is one of the most imposing and richly ornamented interiors of recent times. Full scale, freehand drawings by Fran-cis Terry for the plasterwork introduce a vibrancy and sensitivity to plant forms and associated classical ornament on a scale unparalleled in modern British Architecture.

Lodge: How it looked before the modernisation project

Project GalleryMain Hall and Main Stairs

Main Hall Beam Enrichment

The individually modelled leaves and plant forms created a life like, organic feel to the beams in the main hall. Each leaf was bespoke to avoid duplication to achieve a natural ‘growth’ from a point of origin.

Some 400 leaves were individually hand-dressed on flat beams in a precise order, governed by the one to one drawings by Francis Terry. The whole area was also balanced so moulds needed to suit the ceiling dimensions, with mitres all being hand crafted for accuracy.

Main Hall Brackets

The development of these ceiling brackets was quite a challenge. The exacting specifications, level of un-dercut and scale de-manded that we formulate a process which ensured that the brackets remained completely square and identical when cast.

Once again, we employed a variety of materials to complete the components of this piece, which in-cluded modelling clay, ep-oxy putty, aluminium, cop-per, brass and silver.

In the finished piece, the juxtaposition of the engi-neered architectural vo-lutes and the sharp curved lines form an interesting contrast to the ‘organic’ feel of the feathers.

Main Hall Shell

There was a great deal of R & D involved with this impressive piece.

We collected a variety of real shells, (from as far away as beaches in Amer-ica!) to assist with the initial designs and to properly capture the correct natu-ral form of their shape. The organic insert provided a fabulous contrast to the engineered elements of the shell.

1:10 scale models were produced for architect approval, which proved in-valuable in developing a process to complete such a large and demanding component.

The scale of this piece can be seen from our photos and provided quite a challenge when we came to install. A section had to be left out of the cove and suspension bars were inserted to allow adequate support.

Additional enrichments were applied after installation as seen in the photo above.

Main Hall Cartouche

This was the single most challenging item from the whole project. QFT saw it as the centrepiece of the main hall design and we received beautiful full size artist impressions of this element.

We utilised a whole range of materials and technologies in the production of the cartouche model, from hand-hammered copper for the centre to di-minishing wooden discs for the crea-tion of the wreaths that frame the pe-rimeter. Each disc had 10 leaves indi-vidually attached to them and each wreath had more than 200 leaves, all hand applied.

The architects demanded that the flutes that surround the copper centre must ‘look natural’ and in order to achieve this we engineered 12 different flute modules, this time in resin, that all di-minish very slightly.

The palms that extend from the sides of the cartouche were sculpted in clay to intentionally contrast the precision of the flutes and scrolls.

The lower wreaths needed to appear to be suspended away from the cartouche and you will see from the photos what we mean by this. We accomplished this unique effect by wiring back the wreaths right through the scrolls of the cartouche in order to create the pen-dent effect.

Main Hall Candelabra & Swag

Incredibly detailed one to one drawings were received for what was one of the first elements of work undertaken. Through a gradual process of sample submission, we were able to attain the desired level of workmanship the archi-tects demanded for this project and in the process, set the benchmark for quality and realism required for the rest of the works.

You can see from the photos of the model overlaid on one of the QFT drawings that the level of detail is quite out-standing and three different sizes were required to cater for different room sizes.

A selection of epoxy putty and modelling clay were used to create the originations with the casts in both resin and plas-ter, in accordance with the delicate nature of the moulds.

Main Hall Cornice Enrichment

Additional drawings were received for further works to the plain modillion cornice.

These new elements of enrichment comprised of swags, framed rosettes and acanthus leaves. It is worth noting that it was neces-sary to produce varying sizes of components to suite each area.

All castes were in plaster and made to a very high level of speci-fication. This was achieved by our ability as a company to com-bine traditional craftsmanship with modern materials and proc-esses. In this instance, the models were produced from alumin-ium, copper and brass to produce an incredibly sharp and crisp finish.

Main Hall Oculus Swag

The detail of this piece is quite exceptional and like many of the drawings we received from Quinlan & Francis Terry, were exceptional pieces of work in their own right.

There was a maximum relief of 70mm on this enrichment which gave our modellers licence to create a piece that was ultra realistic.

The flowers were sculpted full size using real specimens as a reference in order to make them as authentic as possible. We used a detailed bed of leaves for the flowers to sit on which added depth and shadow to the work and many of the flowers were individually applied to maximize the whole organic feel. Due to the need for high detail, resins were used to produce many of the fine detail models and originations.

Main Hall Cove Enrichment

Additional enrichments were required after the cove was installed. We assisted the architect with this task and further ornamentation was drawn directly onto the face of the cove whilst insitu. The sketches can clearly be seen in the photos supplied.

The enrichments were then templated and produced for approval. The method of installation had to be carefully considered due to application onto a primed surface. Many proprietary adhesives were tested until a suitable method of fixing was agreed.

The Main Stairs

Oculus, Beam Enrichment and Rinceau panels

The ornamentation in this area is extremely detailed and noticeably delicate in its relief. This can clearly be seen in the finery of the Rinceau panels and especially the floral elliptical band.

The band framing the oculus is comprised of hundreds of individu-ally applied flowers and leaves and it is important to note that each module of the panel is bespoke with no pattern repeat. There are in fact two layers of flowers; the first layer is a subtly textured plastaline flower pattern, the second comprising of full size individual flower components applied over the first to give depth and create shadow.

The balustrade feature installed in the lay light completes the area quite beautifully. The models produced for the balusters were turned by lathe from a virtually grainless hardwood. This was how we man-aged to attain a finish free from imperfections.