The job: This week begins a new two-part series on the replacement of an antique cupola for an existing customer.
Our approach: Originally, the customer's intention was to keep the cupola, it being such a beautiful feature.
However, when our team surveyed it, we found it to be in a poor state of disrepair. As can be seen from the pictures above, one pane was broken, and the structure was leaking and suffering from rot and severe weathering.
When we reported back to the client, it was agreed we would create a new one which replicated the original as faithfully as possible.
Onsite measurements of the cupola were taken and returned to the workshop, where a joiner used them to handcraft the individual components. These were manufactured from European red wood, which would be metal-capped on the outside for protection from the Scottish weather.
We then assembled the structure of the new cupola piece by piece. Beginning with the base frame, we then erected the two hipped ends, before attaching the ridge piece, as seen below.
With the central architecture in place, we then added the intermediate rafters to create the traditional look of the original cupola.
Then as a final finishing touch to the wooden structure we added the two underside finials, hand-turned on our lathes, as shown in our Instagram share below (follow us on Instagram to get all of our showcase works!).
We hope you'll join us for our next part, where we'll be taking you from this stage through to the final installation of the cupola, which we consider to be indistinguishable from the original.
What our joiner said:
It's always a pleasure to be asked to help retain the character of a period building, and we take pride in our ability to employ the same traditional skills and attention-to-detail as the original craftsmen.
