The Plaisterers organization is one of the oldest livery companies in England, with its first charter granted by King Henry VII in 1501. The largest livery hall in London, it remains a focal point for the plastering trade. The current Hall, the result of a new build in 1972, needed a makeover to bring it into the 21st century in terms of an audio-visual, lighting and audio infrastructure. The idea was to provide hanging points for whatever technical production equipment was required in the Hall, according to the format of the event.
PCM was contacted by the main project consultant Plaisterers Hall Ltd, on the recommendation of David Harding from Winchester-based lighting and sound consultancy, Whitwam. They supplied and located 18 double-braked Lodestar chain hoists in the roof void above the main Hall, with a removable control system which offers the option of all the hoists being synchronized and run together, or selected and run in any other chosen format.The biggest challenge was to achieve this without damaging the integrity, aesthetics and intricate plasterwork of the building, or showing any visible signs of disturbance to the Hall's famous ceiling. An added problem was the roof space clearance - a mere 1.2m, falling to just 600mm at some points!
PCM designed and manufactured special seating brackets for the Lodestars in the roof, to allow them to be precisely adjusted in any direction. Attached to the bottom of the fixing bracket is a circular tube which guides the chain through the hall's ceiling. The brackets enable the Lodestar chains to drop through the ceiling at exactly the required positions.
With the Lodestar chain's descending points coming through ornate sections of the ceiling, special removable cover caps were fitted, which exactly match the plasterwork. These are pulled back into position when the chain is run up: when in position, the Lodestar cover caps blend imperceptibly into the ceiling.
PCM also devised a solution to electrically raise and lower the hall's three fixed chandeliers for easy maintenance access. The 4m high chandeliers also needed to be raised as far as possible when projection screens are used in the hall. This was another tough task, given the limited roof space, and the client's request for the chandeliers to 'stop' as near to the ceiling as possible.
Three Pfaff grooved-drum Beta winches are used, complete with internal and independent back-up limits, while cable tensioning-devices ensure no slip-ups. As with all chandeliers, steel cable rotation and power were still a problem. This was resolved using special non-twist steel cable in conjunction with spring-loaded power reels, which raise and lower the power and control feeds as the chandelier is moved.
