The craftsmanship of a Jacobean ceiling at a Tudor house in Devon and the stunning contemporary Library of Birmingham were among the winners of this year’s Plaisterers’ Awards.

More than 300 industry leaders attended the glittering prize giving ceremony at the prestigious Plaisterers’ Hall in the City of London. Now in its 45th year, the Plaisterers’ Awards are organised by FPDC, the Federation of Plastering and Drywall Construction, and recognise best practice and high standards of workmanship within the drywall, plastering and screeding sector.

To view the special commemorative FPDC Plaisterers’ Awards brochure CLICK HERE

Photograph: Christian Richters

The Drylining over £1 million went to Horbury Building Services for their work on the Library of Birmingham (photo left) . One of the judges called this “the biggest, most complex project I have ever seen”.  The atrium is eleven stories high and circular, all plasterboard lined and skimmed. There were also many large flat areas of wall, and escalators to be worked around. The quality of the finish was rated by the judges as ‘very good’, especially considering that some of the skimming had to be done on scaffolding 50 metres from the ground.

Sam Wheatley won the Internal Plastering category for his work during the restoration of a Tudor house in Dartmouth by taking the remnants of a 17th century Jacobean ceiling with serious fire damage and faithfully restoring it to its full glory. The running of the cornice and ribs in situ, together with the fixing of enrichments on to the second coat of lime mortar, followed by the finishing coat of lime plaster in between, demonstrated a very high degree of plastering excellence.

The winner of the Fibrous Heritage award was Great Fulford, a Grade I listed manor in Devon  (right: photograph – Nick Carter) which had been without a ballroom ceiling since it collapsed in the 1700s. The Geoffrey Preston Ltd took the client’s sketches and turned them into a full plasterwork concept and design, then turned that into a prodigious variety of exquisite, decorative and intricate themes: for example the central panel depicts the greek mythological story of Bacchus, Venus and Ariadne. Not your typical plastering project.

More than 2,500 hours of work went into the modelling, and over 500 hours into the moulding and casting. During the contract three modellers were trained. The standard of modelling is some of the finest anywhere, and it earned Geoffrey Preston Ltd the award for Fibrous & GRG Heritage.

Individual winners were chosen in nine separate categories from a total of 40 contracts that were shortlisted. The winning contractors at this year’s FPDC Plaisterers’ Awards were:

  • Fibrous Plastering for a Heritage Contract – Geoffrey Preston Ltd for their work on Great Fulford Ballroom Ceiling,Exeter
  • Fibrous Plastering for a New Build Contract – Fine Art Mouldings Ltd for their work on Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
  • Internal Plastering – Sean Wheatley for their work on Jacobean Ceiling,Dartmouth
  • External Plastering – Plastering Contractors (Stanmore) Ltd for their work on Great West Quarter, Brentford
  • Drylining commercial under £1m – Mark One Interiors Ltd for their work onUCEAcademy,EllesmerePort.
  • Drylining Commercial Contract over £1m – Horbury Group Ltd for their work on The Library of Birmingham
  • Drylining Residential Contract – PIB Contractors Ltd for their work on The Orchard, Islington
  • Steel Framed Systems contract – Framing Technology Ltd for their work onHolbroke Court. Islington

FPDC director Steve Halcrow said: “These awards provide us with an ideal opportunity to showcase the work our member companies do across a wide range of disciplines and gain the recognition for the high level of excellence in their work.

“As our sector progresses and evolves, the materials and disciplines involved change and move on, but the core skills remain and the commitment to continuous improvement is pivotal to the success of our members.”

To view a selection of photographs from the awards please CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

The FPDC Plaisterers’ Awards were generously supported by gold sponsor the GPDA; category sponsors SIG and Hilti; silver sponsors Catnic, CCF and Minster; bronze sponsors Etag, SPSEnvirowall and Brandon Hire.