Project Title: St Edmundsbury Cathedral Fan Vaulted Ceiling
Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Wood Species: EUROPEAN OAK
Product Description
The Project
The fan vaulted ceiling for the Millennium Tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral is believed to be unique in its construction; ceilings that include as much architectural detail are historically created from stone.
The craftsmen from Taylor Made Joinery Interiors Limited have worked on the St Edmundsbury Cathedral Vaulted Ceiling project to create a spectacular solid European Oak ceiling for the Millennium Tower at Bury St Edmunds that is the ‘crowning glory’ of the project.
The design was modelled in 3D to assess the visually complex shapes being generated and their relationship with the tower fabric. The model was further used directly at a later stage to program TMJ’s CNC machining centres in the carving of the surface features and structural sections.
The pre existing tower interior was measured in 3D using a Leica HDS survey system. The survey provided a guide to the cad model creation in the same model space thus ensuring the structure would fit safely within the tower fabric. This included fitting within a tight margin between the gothic arched stone windows set into the tower walls and a steel walkway immediately above finished ceiling position. This design method allowed for the safe prefabrication and detail fitting of the structure at TMJ’s Bildeston workshop before disassembly and final install on site at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.
The vault construction was of European kiln dried Oak to ensure long term stability of the structure. This was chosen for a number of reasons, firstly to allow the construction of structural curved beam elements from modern timber stocks and secondly to provide a ‘ canvas ‘ as stable as possible for the painted and gilded final surface of the ceiling.
Set within the structural sections forming the backbone of the vault are a large number of carved Oak sections forming the Gothic tracery elements. These are built up from kiln dried Oak sections dowelled and jointed as necessary and then fully machined to 3D model to form the complex multi-curvature features typical to this type of Gothic tracery moulds. These carvings were then hung from the outer structural frame using a system of stainless steel brackets to allow them to be slot screwed into position allowing for movement while not overstressing the panel sets.
BUILDING OWNER: ST EDMUNDSBURY CATHEDRAL
ARCHITECT: FREELAND REES ROBERTS ARCHITECTS
MAIN CONTRACTOR: F.A. VALIANT & SON LTD
JOINERY COMPANY: TMJ INTERIORS LTD
OTHER ASSOCIATED COMPANY: HARE & HUMPHREYS
WOOD SUPPLIER: JAMES LATHAM PLC
