Custom Woodwork - Designing for Your Home |
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The art we practice often requires meticulous coordination with architects, chief masons, floor layers, and tile setters. This piece was part of a whole house restoration in downtown Ottawa, overseen by Julian Smith - a specialist in historical architectural restoration. Consulting his sketches, we incorporated our research and design expertise to design the mantle. For this project we needed a full mantle built for one of the main rooms of the house. As a focal point in the house this piece had to be at once opulent and tasteful. He needed a mantle with a traditional Victorian design. These were usually built shoulder high with very dark wood. The complication with this specific piece was that the flue - the chimney - for the fireplace was being installed in the small space between this building and the next. This meant that there would be a jog in the wall rising from the fireplace all the way to the ceiling. After some thought and consultation with both the architect and the Wards we decided that the mantle should be vertical to complement the ten foot ceilings. To keep the voluptuousness of Victorian style an outward swelling of the mantle shelf and the whimsical candle sconce were incorporated into the designs. The room's design called for the mantle to be made in natural Maple, a much lighter wood that what would have been used traditionally. Maple is among the most solid and durable of the local species. This wood allows the mantle to orient the room without overpowering it.
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