Cast stone units supplied for this project ranged from window and door surrounds (including garage doors) and bays, to canopies, gable vents and pier caps. The most striking features are slender first-floor mini-bay windows that are supported on elegant, deeply upswept cills. All three properties on the development have similar characteristics, yet they are all unique. Cast stone's versatility is ideally suited to projects such as this where there is a need for repetitive work and design variants, making it much more cost-effective than dressed natural stone.

The standard and bespoke cast stone units were purchased via the contractor, whose high-quality craftsmanship enabled intricate details to be included within the brickwork, such as quoins and herringbone infills. In addition, leading has been used in areas such as above the bay windows and canopies, and mock leaded light windows have been installed. All of these traditional features are complemented beautifully by the cast stone that mimics dressed York stone.

As well as manufacturing the standard and bespoke cast stone units and delivering them to site, Procter Cast stone & Concrete Products supported the project by attending site meetings and producing working drawings for all of the cast stone components for the builder and engineer to approve. As with all of its projects, Procter Caststone & Concrete Products appointed a contract manager to liaise with other parties as necessary to ensure that the project ran smoothly from start to finish and the right products were delivered to site in accordance with the agreed schedules.

While some suppliers of cast stone might have struggled to produce the concave curvature on the upswept cills, Procter Cast stone & Concrete Products took this in its stride. Working from the architect's drawings, mould drawings were created, from which the moulds were manufactured by Procter's skilled craftsmen. Although the cills' opposed curved faces are unusual, they were successfully moulded to the architect's design and specification. Follow the link to download a project datasheet with additional photographs.

To assist in the process of specifying cast stone products, Procter Cast stone & Concrete Products has published Understanding Cast Stone, a Guide to Cast Stone Products for Architects and Specifiers. This is available as a PDF file free of charge from the Downloads section of the company's website.

For more information about standard and bespoke cast stone products, please telephone 0113 286 3329, email sales@proctergarforth.co.uk