architectural feature for local building

imitation stone gargoyle

Many of the older buildings throughout the world have in the past, been adorned with gargoyles. Images of flora, fauna and wonderful mythical creatures abound in our cityscapes, but this practise has faded out, and the artisan practises of old, overtaken by technological process and its clean modern lines.

Our client, in the process of renovating an old picture theatre, realised the building had, at some point in the past, had its original stone façade removed. Lamenting this fact, he decided a new architectural feature was required, one that revitalised some of the theatres old appeal.

The brief was to create an imitation stone gargoyle to adorn the building, above the penthouse apartment. The client provided a three-dimensional concept model and we set about a process of research, in order to fine-tune the form.

The large, one and a half metre wide Gargoyle, we created by meticulously carving the form in polystyrene, then cladding it with pigmented epoxy resin and fibreglass matt. Over the top of this, we added a special composite layer to recreate a realistic stone surface.