Case Study
Lancaster Gate
Heritage Restoration
Choice Finishes was brought onto Lancaster Gate eighteen months into a three-year heritage restoration, after the original plastering contractor was unable to resource the package. We mobilised a team of up to 16 specialist plasterers and took on effectively the entire plastering scope across the building: 4,000m² of traditional lime plaster, gypsum plastering to the majority of the 11 apartments, grassello di calce polished plaster to the vaulted ceilings and bay windows, the complete external render from fifth-floor mansard to ground, structural waterproofing and screeding to 13 basement vaults, and the ornamental fibrous restoration throughout.
01
Brought in Mid-Project
The job was already 18 months underway when we were appointed. The existing plaster had been stripped back to brickwork across the building.
The programme required a contractor who could resource a package of this size on a live heritage site without a re-mobilisation delay. We scaled to up to 16 specialist plasterers.
02
Re-Plastering from Brickwork — 4,000m²
With the original plaster removed, every wall was plumbed and levelled from scratch before any finish was applied. Float and skim throughout, in traditional lime.
Working back from bare brickwork in a period building means no two walls are the same and setting out is done by hand, not by machine.
03
Lath and Lime
Riven timber lath was installed where original lath was beyond repair, then lime backing coats and finish coats applied by hand. Each area was allowed to cure in sequence so the new plaster remained compatible with the retained historic fabric.
04
External Render — Mansard to Ground
We took on the full external rendering package across every level of the building, from the fifth-floor mansard down to ground.
Working at height on a live heritage site across six levels required sustained access coordination and a consistent finish across elevations completed months apart.
Photography Pending
External render — six levels
Photography Pending
Basement vault waterproofing and screed
05
13 Basement Vaults: Tanked, Waterproofed, Rendered and Screeded
Thirteen basement vaults were brought back into use. Structural waterproofing was installed, followed by render and screed throughout.
Below-ground work in a Victorian building means dealing with existing brick condition, varying substrate and no two vaults being the same size or shape.
06
Gypsum Plastering to the Apartments
Alongside the heritage work, we carried out the gypsum plastering to the majority of the 11 apartments. Running traditional lime and modern gypsum systems side by side on the same programme means managing two different sets of drying times, sequencing and tolerances without either package holding up the other.
07
Polished Plaster — Grassello di Calce
Grassello di calce polished plaster was applied to the vaulted ceilings in blue and to the bay window areas in cream. Grassello is a lime putty polished plaster, burnished to a soft depth rather than a flat colour, and it was specified here to sit correctly alongside the traditional lime and ornamental plasterwork rather than reading as a modern applied finish. Colours were matched to the scheme and applied by hand across curved and vaulted geometry.
08
Fibrous and Ornamental Restoration
Moulds were taken directly from surviving original profiles and figurative reliefs, new sections cast to match, and enrichment, cornices, ceiling roses and archways restored across the building.
Surviving details provided the reference for each replacement. Taking the mould directly from sound original work retained the scale, projection and modelling of the historic scheme.
The moulds were used to cast new fibrous sections off site. Each run was checked against the original profile before delivery and installation.
Installation was coordinated from scaffold around the retained ceiling centres, cornice lines and adjoining finishes, with new work made good into the surviving fabric.
Enrichment was finished by hand after fixing. This allowed junctions, small losses and the edges of individual motifs to be resolved in place.
Repairs to arches and other compound details were completed in sequence so cornice, frieze, coffers and capitals aligned as one decorative composition.
09
Completed
The completed work brings the repaired arches, enrichments, coffered soffits and cornice profiles back into a consistent architectural scheme while retaining the character of the original plasterwork.
The new casts and repaired original work now read together across the arch, coffers and enriched frieze.
At the junctions, restored pilaster capitals and coffered soffits complete the relationship between the vertical and overhead ornament.
Across three years, Choice Finishes held effectively the whole plastering scope at Lancaster Gate — heritage lime, gypsum, external render, basement waterproofing and screed, and ornamental fibrous restoration. For the main contractor that meant one subcontractor, one point of responsibility, and no coordination gaps between plastering packages.
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