fine stonemasonry for fine watches
10th December 2018
Rundell Associates were the architects tasked with refurbishing the Fine Watch Sales area in Harrods, Knightsbridge and chose to work with stoneCIRCLE for the stone fabrication involved.
The project was to manufacture and install curved quarter book-matched marble panels to the walls and solid marble treads to create a new staircase positioned in an elliptical opening in the floor which links the two areas of the Fine Watch Room. stoneCIRCLE also fabricated walnut travertine back panels to the display cases on the wall.
A single block of Cipollino Cremo Tirreno marble was selected in Italy by Mike Rundell, designer and founder of Rundell Associates and sourced through McMamilloyd of Great Bedwyn for the walls. Crema Marfil was sourced in Spain for the stair treads, apron nosings and floors.
The slabs had to be sawn to different thicknesses, allowing the panels to curve around the walls of the ellipse. The walls and stairs were modelled in 3D by stoneCIRCLE to ensure that these were correctly calculated. Derived from the model, a cutting schedule with thicknesses and sequence of each slab was sent to the quarry in Italy, and the block sawn accordingly. The slabs used at each end of the ellipse were thicker to allow for the tighter curves.
Once the slabs were in our Basingstoke factory, they were photographed on our Slabsmith photo station and rendered so that the book matching could be worked out for approval by client and architect. Then the slabs were cut and shaped on our CNC saws, ready to be honed by hand.
The approximate weight of the finished wall panels was 240 Kg each, and the individual treads were roughly 275 Kg. Hence, their installation needed a ceiling scaffold suspended by a gantry crane and a chain block hoist.
The walls and tread supports were built by Jaysam in Metsec to a drawing agreed with us. The walls were of 18mm ply covered by 12mm Wedi board. The original time allowed for the installation was 4 weeks, but we were told that the scaffold and gantry were coming down and had to speed up the building to have all of the treads and wall panels in place in 2 weeks. The panels were adhesively bonded to the Wedi board and mechanically fixed with stainless steel L brackets and pins.
Mike Rundell said, "The sweeping staircase is a significant new architectural feature that we hope will be enjoyed by customers for years to come".
For this project, stoneCIRCLE have been highly commended in the Natural Stone Awards.
project details
client: Harrods
designer: Rundell Associates
materials: Cipollino Cremo Tirreno, Crema Marfil
