It looks authentic but it really IS GRP?

When the owners of a prestige shop and office property in King Street, Manchester, discovered that the ancient stucco and timber features on their 18th century building were crumbling away, they had few options. Conventional replacement would prove massively expensive, but what about GRP? That chameleon-like material can simulate almost anything. Harviglass were consulted about reproducing all the detail projections on the fascia in GRP, from the substantial timber cornice right down to the embossed street numbers.

While examining the building, Harviglass personnel discovered that, under 200 years of paint as much as 18mm thick, a beautiful ‘ball and cup’ moulding decorated the window reveals. Furthermore, the ornate timber brackets and rail at first floor level, were nothing more than a heavy paint shell beneath which the original timber had rotted away.

After some extensive detail photography and measurement, Harviglass were given the green light. Six weeks later, after the building had been stripped back to its original brickwork, accurately moulded GRP reproductions of the original building features were being carefully fixed back into place.

Later, a new durable cement render was applied, up to, and over the GRP features. Because GRP has such a low coefficient of expansion and immense tolerance of aggressive chemicals, it's ideal in such situations. Colours and textures are ‘moulded-in’ and UV degradation is today virtually eliminated.

In this instance GRP was asked to simulate stucco, but it can readily take on the texture of stone, lead, timber, cast iron and even textiles and reproduce the authentic look and feel of traditional materials.