The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Throughout
2001 and 2002 Ossett Mouldings Limited made, supplied and installed some
products to this very high profile project.
On completion, Her Majesty The Queen opened this completely new
annexe to her palace as part of her 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations.
These products, detailed below were manufactured in cast resin and Glass
Reinforced Cement (GRC). Unusually for our company no plaster castings
were made, although many workshop patterns were formed in this material.
Please note - this photo to right is used here as a "signboard", we did
no work to this exterior!
As is customary in the construction industry, we worked as a sub
contractor, not directly for the client. The client in this case was the
quaintly titled "Keeper of the Privy Purse".
In this page we will describe as interestingly as possible for you our
small part in this project of which we are naturally quite proud.
Entrance
Desks. We "merely" made cast cement components for these four
items. Our contractor planned, made many parts, co-ordinated, assembled,
delivered and site installed the completed desks.
In turn we employed an excellent, first class sculptor to create many of
the elements you see in these illustrations such as claw feet,
diminishing flutes, enriched ends (which had to match the column
capitals, below) also tassels.
Even
so, this left us with a great deal of work in patternmaking,
mouldmaking, quite difficult casting and sub assembly.
As our components were intended to mimic carved portland stone, these
were unpainted. This imposed further difficulties, for example colour
control onto the moulding, casting and finishing processes.
Apart from the entrance portico, pictured above, constructed by others,
these desks are often the first item visitors to the Palace will
encounter or notice. After a year of extraordinarily heavy use, they
appear to be wearing very well indeed.
The four desks varied in design, compounding the practical difficulties, but as you can see, these eventually became super little desks! Albeit (intentionally) very heavy!
Nash
Gallery Ceiling, Cast Resin Trellis Panels and Beadwork to
ceiling area.
While appearing to be "just holes", these were in fact very difficult to
produce. Believe me, the simple term "curved in one plane" doesn't begin
to describe the geometric horror we so correctly foresaw!
Obviousely
the setting out, while difficult was achieved, as were the many other
practical difficulties, both anticipated and unforeseen, including some
complex chemical interations between materials.
These panels were each cast in very large sections indeed, approximately
2500mm by 1500mm. Twenty one panels in total to this one ceiling. All at
approximately eight metres from floor level.
Given the enormous amount of time, effort, cash and emotion that was
expended upon these items, it is a great pity these huge panels are
fitted so very high up and largely disregarded by visitors.
Lighting
Sconces. Absolutely delightful items.
Some small examples of these existed already within the palace. We were
required to replicate many more of these, also to create some larger
matching examples.
One original
was moulded, from which mould numerous more examples were produced in
cast resin material, all incorporating a heat sink and integral "air
flow" ventilation.
The same excellent sculptor modelled a much larger example as required
by our client. This in turn was also moulded and the required number
produced.
Our contractor fitted glass bowls, lighting equipment, decorated them
with a very convincing metallic "patina" and installed them onto site.
Yet again, as you can see, these also look exceptionally good, a fine
example of co-operation between several companies.
Small
Lift Car Ceiling.
Another apparently insignificant item, certainly unnoticed despite being
very close to the public gaze.
Cast in resin with a plain surface, this was also deceptively difficult
to plan, plot, patternmake, mould, cast and install.
The design continued the "Soanian" scheme of the ceilings in the
adjoining corridors with the added difficulty of requiring to accurately
"couple" with the immediately adjoining components to centre and edge
which were in different materials from two remote manufacturers.
As an indication of the very tight margins in this small car, the
ceiling required to be "tried up" for trimming some 32 times during
installation before it fitted perfectly into place! However, just like
the other items on this page (and throughout this site), it certainly
was eventually worth the considerable effort we put into it!
Entrance
Hall Columns. Easily the largest of our numerous tasks at these
new galleries and in many aspects the most difficult, but for different
reasons to those above.
Formed in Glass Reinforced Cement (GRC), these were required to be
installed very early on in the construction process. Additionally, as
with the above matching desks they were required, to quote our client,
"au naturelle", unpainted to match that light Portland stone colour. Our
material was preferred to real Portland stone because under test it
proved to be very much harder!
Of true
classic design, the shafts are acutely entasised (narrowed) toward the
caps, also have an odd number of flutes to their circumference, twenty
one in total. This feature alone generated additional tasks at every
single stage of production and installation.
Each of these six complete 3200mm long column shafts had its own
"personal" rubber tyred wheeled trolley to minimise handling and
facilitate transport on the 200 mile journey from our Yorkshire
workshops.
The capitals are also more complex than initially appears. Their leaf
pattern corresponds with the shaft flutes, making the capitals "odd",
therefore the anthemion (honeysuckle) enrichment coincides just once in
the whole circumference, making setting out that little bit more
thoughtful.
If you don't wish to travel to London to view these very special full
columns, we have two similar half columns on the exterior of our
workshop / showroom near Dewsbury, address below.
