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You are here: Commercial -> St. Patrick's Cathedral Project St. Patrick's Cathedral Project
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The work we completed for the extensive refurbishment of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh was the most significant conservation and restoration project in Ireland in recent years. One of the most important factors in the winning of the contract to supply material to this project, was the extent of our manufacturing facility. You will find below a case study of this project. The intention here is to provide a detailed analysis of the approach we take with these complex projects. |
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PROJECT ARCHITECT - P & B GREGORY ARCHITECTS, Belfast SANCTUARY DESIGN - ROONEY & McCONVILLE ARCHITECTS, Belfast We manufactured product for use in a number of areas for this project: The Sanctuary The Baptistery The Synod Washrooms I have detailed the work involved in each area below: |
THE SANCTUARY The responsibility for the design in this area lay with Brian Quinn of Rooney & McConville Architects (Belfast). In our initial discussions with Brian Quinn concerning the design, we told him that if he can draw it, we can cut it ? he took us at our word. The design that was presented to us incorporated some very detailed and intricate patterns. As a result of the various cutting technologies we possess and our previous experience in this field, we were able to deliver these intricate designs without compromising on the architects original vision. The design of this area was made up of several different schemes and I have dealt with each individually below. |
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Celtic Pathways The original mosaic work that exists in the Cathedral portrays a Celtic theme and the new design set out to echo this theme. Whereas originally the design had been achieved through the use of extensive mosaic work, it was decided that given the time constraints on the project, waterjet technology would allow us to produce Brian Quinn?s new design to the highest standard possible and in the required time frame. The first job here was to select the appropriate materials for the project to marry the new design with the original mosaic work. After careful consideration over many weeks the material chosen was Italian porcelain stoneware from Italian manufacturers, Floorgres, |
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The design on the main Sanctuary floor was also repeated in the surrounding areas. It was decided that in order to highlight the main Sanctuary and make it stand out we would use a polished finish here and a Matt finish on the surrounding areas. |
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You can see from the image above that the Celtic pathways form a cross leading to the altar in the centre of the Sanctuary. The material chosen as infill for these areas was polished 45x45cm porcelain stoneware from the Chromwork range by Floorgres. The design on the tiles you see here is a process we have developed to create the impression of cuts in the tile. When grouting is completed on these pieces, they appear to be cut. The purpose of this process is to provide for ease of fitting ? each tile can be fitted as one piece. |
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While considering the design for this area, careful consideration was given to each and every aspect of the design. The exact area that we had to cover was considered in determining the dimensions of the pathways on the Sanctuary. Every effort was made to ensure that when laid, there would be no small or irregular pieces needed to fill in around the edges of the design. Only half and quarter tiles were used. The cutting technologies we possess at our manufacturing facility allow us to factor these considerations into the design and ensure that every aspect affecting the aesthetics of the job has been taken into account. The size of the 45x45cm polished tiles was set, but we were able to manipulate the design of the pathways to help us reach the desired conclusion. |
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Another area of the Sanctuary design where this precise approach was taken was with the polished marble that is featured on it?s steps. There are a number of pillars situated around the Sanctuary and some of these encroach onto the steps. In order to ensure a neat finish on these steps we utilised our waterjet cutting facility. We were able to take templates of the parts of the steps affected by the pillars, take them back to our manufacturing facility and the required marble pieces were cut to fit. Without the use of this approach it would have been necessary to cut several small pieces at the foot of the pillars in order to complete the fitting right up to the pillar. This would have again affected the overall aesthetics of the Sanctuary. This particular aspect of the service Armatile offer is unique in the Contracts field in Ireland ? not only because of the technology required to achieve the above results, but as a result of the high level of skill and experience that is needed to ensure the successful completion of this work |
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Original mosaic piece We were also responsible for the manufacture of an original mosaic piece that is featured behind the Sanctuary. This piece came from a drawing that the Clerk of Works, Mr. Gerry Gribben, had discovered at the outset of the project. It is believed that this piece was intended for use in the original construction of the Cathedral, but for some reason it had not been included. The architects on the project decided they would like to use this piece in the restoration. |
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We took the drawing back to our design team, sourced materials to use in the piece and after careful consideration it was again decided that porcelain stoneware from Floorgres represented the best material to use for this piece, although it also included some real gold mosaics. In terms of the actual manufacture of this particular piece, it is a combination of traditional mosaic and waterjet cutting. The piece measures 3.2m in length, contains 12,000 mosaic pieces (14mm x 14mm & 10mm x 10mm) and 200 waterjet cut pieces. The large mosaic was assembled on a mesh in one piece at our factory. Upon completion it was then cut into seven sections which were individually labeled and the installers were given detailed instructions concerning the fitting of this piece. The actual fitting of the piece on site took 2 hours for 2 men. The process of assembling this piece at our factory and delivering it to site in a series of meshed sections offers dramatic time savings in terms of the time spent fitting the piece |
Archbishop?s Coat of Arms |
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On the upper level of the Sanctuary there is a repeat of the Celtic pathway that leads to the Cathedra. In the centre of this pathway there is a waterjet cut emblem of the Archbishop?s Coat of Arms. This piece was commissioned by Archbishop Sean Brady. This emblem measures 800mm diameter and contains some 250 waterjet cut pieces. This piece was manufactured in one piece and fitted in 10 minutes. |
There is also a design cut on the raised area where the Cathedra is placed. This particular piece is manufactured from polished marble. This particular piece was an orginal design by Armatile and was designed to fit in with the original design work by Brian Quinn. We again used waterjet cutting to create this design. |
THE SYNOD WASHROOMS There is an old Victorian style floor design in the entrance to the Synod Hall. This design continued into the washrooms just off this entrance hall. While the floor in the entrance hall remained in good condition, the floor in the washroom area had become badly damaged and had to be replaced. |
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We have come across a situations like this before, the most notable being in the refurbishment of Stormont Castle in Belfast in 2001 ? the home of the Northern Ireland Parliament buildings. The architects had been trying for several months to locate someone who could supply a new floor similar to the original without any success. They then approached us with a sample of a Victorian encaustic design and asked for it to be reproduced. This work involved the complete removal of the old damaged floor and the laying of our new design. |
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This Cathedral was potentially more problematic in that our new design was to be laid beside the original floor. If the old floor is being completed replaced, there is some room for manouevre concerning the design and colour scheme ? it does not have to be an exact match. However, in this instance we were faced with having to find an exact match to the original floor. The original floor had been manufactured from encaustic tiles. This is an old and lengthy process and the cost can be prohibitive. We realised from previous experience with this type of material that waterjet technology presented a more efficient alternative in terms of both time and cost. The first task of our production and design team was to identify material to be used for the reproduction of the floor. We set about producing several lab samples to present to the client and after much consideration agreement was reached on a colour scheme. Given the complexities of this project we were able to match the colours from the Progetto range from Floorgres. This is an extensive range of porcelain stoneware in a wide variety of colours and is the material we use to produce our own Cathedral range of Victorian style flooring. The final material was produced on a repeating series of mesh-mounted panels which offers savings in terms of labour time and therefore cost. We also manufactured borders to run around the outside of the design ? again, an exact replica of the original floor in the entrance hall. In addition to this there were a number of hand decorated borders used with the wall tiles featured in this area. |
At a late stage in the restoration it was decided to rearrange the Baptistery to bring it into line with current Liturgy. This entailed re-siting the Baptismal Font in the centre and the removal of ballastrads. Once this had been done half the floor was concrete and the other half was an original mosaic design. The Restoration Committee were faced with two problems ? time and cost. With this in mind we again set about producing a number of lab samples for approval. To the surprise of the Restoration Committee we were able to reproduce the original floor with a combination of mosaic and waterjet cut pieces in our factory well within their budget and on time. The floor was assembled on a repeating series of mesh-mounted panels as with the Synod Washrooms. This approach offered considerable time savings over the alternative of installing the mosaic work piece by piece on site. The emphasis in this particular area was to create the impression that the original floor had simply been restored. Since the completion of the project, several parishioners have commented that they are particularly pleased that this floor did not need to be replaced which would indicate that our objective has been achieved. |
From the work outlined here it can be seen that conservation and restoration projects require a wholly different approach to any other commercial contract. In the vast majority of cases, the maintenance of the original features in the building is the Primary concern. However, what is also apparent from our experience in this field is that in most cases there are some aspects of the original design that are simply too badly damaged to be refurbished. It is in situations like this where the modern cutting technologies we possess can allow for the effective reproduction of old designs to a standard that makes them indistinguishable from the original. The technology itself does not provide the answer. The whole process of identifying alternatives to the original materials used and knowing how this material will respond to the various treatments they will be subjected to requires considerable experience in this area. The work we have completed at St. Patrick?s Cathedral demonstrates that we have the level of experience required to complete projects such as this to the high standard that is required and on time. It is also important to remember that the type of work outlined above is not solely applicable to conservation & restoration projects. All the techniques and technologies that have been employed on this project present architects and designers with unrestricted design possibilities on the full range of commercial projects. As with the Cathedral project, this ensures the delivery of a unique tile design concept that is tailored to the specific needs of each individual job. |
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