Internal renovation of Arlesheim cathedral
Back to Projects list- Location
- Arlesheim, Switzerland
- Year
- 2015
The internal renovation comprised repairs to the building fabric (including the roof structure), the internal shell but also specific work, such as optimising the belfry to favour a softer chime and a great deal more besides.
The highlight is the restoration of the ceiling. An ingenious, unconventional technique was required to reconnect the plaster ceiling that had come away to the substructure, or more precisely: injections of plaster dissolved in alcohol that filled in the hollows and secured the base coat. Air cushions pressed the plaster ceiling against the battens to ensure that a homogeneous, fixed plaster ceiling was created again as the plaster injections hardened.
Retouching the countless cracks and cleaning up the colours ensured that the visual camber of the ceiling came into its own once again with full illuminating power.