Looking up at the façades of the Belle Époque in Brussels some 30 years ago, I became fascinated by their exuberant colour and design.
Curiosity took me first to the Poitou region in France and then to L’École d’Avignon, where I began to discover an ancient tradition of building and decoration with lime squarely at its heart.
Since then, I have endeavoured to combine the very different approaches of France and England and now work with a group of independent architects, builders and craftsmen to make the broadest possible use of this beautiful and versatile material.
Lime solutions in restoration and design
We contribute to the repair, restoration, conservation, and decoration of period and contemporary buildings, using traditional lime mortars and methods of application.
Mortars are made in our own workshops to suit the requirements of each project, whether it is pragmatic, decorative, or both. We work in close collaboration with architects, builders, designers, and homeowners to use lime as effectively and imaginatively as possible.
Lime Revival
Lime mortars have been used in building for millennia and provide an extraordinarily complete system, from bedding in and pointing stone to the finest decorative detail.
Largely lost in the British Isles with the advent of Portland cement in the mid-19th century, lime has enjoyed a robust revival over the last 40 or 50 years and is recognised today as an essential component in the proper restoration of period buildings, keeping them sound and dry for the next generation.
A Decorative Powerhouse
What is sometimes forgotten is that the workability and slow drying time of air lime, or lime putty, have led generations of craftsmen in Europe and all over the world to extend its use as a sympathetic building material into a staggeringly versatile decorative and artistic medium.
By extending the structural virtues of lime into the aesthetic of a building, form and colour become part of its fabric, bringing pleasure, harmony, and coherence with them.
