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Where Artistry Begins
A landscape, a botanical or a motif carved in plaster on your own wall, designed to the scale of the room and built up by hand.
Bas relief is a picture sculpted into the wall itself, standing only a little proud of the surface so that daylight and lamplight do the rest. If you want bas relief in Reading, Zavoré can design and carve it for you. We are based in Birmingham, where our Academy is, and we also have a showroom and training centre in London, open by appointment. The easiest first step is a photo of the wall and anything that inspires you.
Reading sits where the Kennet meets the Thames, and that gives a client plenty to draw from. Reeds, willows, swans, narrowboats and the arches of a bridge all translate well into low relief. Others prefer something quieter, such as a single stem of foliage climbing a stairwell or a pattern taken from a favourite fabric.
The town also has strong architecture to echo. The Victorian Gothic of the Town Hall and the old Abbey ruins in the Forbury area suggest pointed arches and carved tracery, and a relief of that kind can feel at home in a Caversham villa or a red brick terrace without copying anything. Whatever you choose, the piece is drawn for your wall alone, so no two are alike.
In a living room or dining room a relief replaces the need for a framed picture. Behind a bed it takes the place of a headboard, and soft side light shows the carving to full effect. Hallways and stairwells in larger Caversham and Tilehurst houses give a long, uninterrupted surface for a landscape.
Offices, restaurants, bars and hotel lobbies in the Thames Valley can carry a logo or lettering in relief. Our bas relief page explains the styles in more detail. Left white, the piece is pure shadow and light. Painted, it becomes a three dimensional scene, and lighting can be built in so the wall glows in the evening.
You send a brief, which can be a sketch, a pattern, a plant or a photograph, along with photos of the wall and its size. We draw the piece to the scale of the wall, so you see how high it rises and how it sits in the room before any plaster goes on. Once the design and price are agreed, dates are fixed and the team plans the work in blocks of days so it stays on the job.
The relief is built up in layers by hand on site, carved while workable, then refined until the edges are clean and it reads as one surface with the wall around it. Our bas relief installation page shows how the work is done. Finishes include natural white, full colour, tint, Venetian plaster, limewash or metallic detail.
We survey the wall first and say plainly if it needs work before sculpting begins.
If you like depth but want a repeating pattern over a large area, sculptural panels may be quicker and more affordable. A relief is sculpted by hand for one wall and has no repeat at all. We do both and will say which suits your wall. If you want to learn the methods yourself, see our courses, or browse the wider decorative work we offer.
Relief pairs easily with other finishes. A white carved scene can rise from a polished or marmorino wall, and for that look see our notes on Venetian plastering in Reading. Panels of repeating pattern are covered at sculptural plaster in Reading, and painted scenes at murals in Reading. Gold detail on raised edges is in gilding in Reading, small pictures in stone and glass in mosaics in Reading, and a deep shine in lacquered walls in Reading. You may also like cornice and coving in Reading, artificial rock in Reading and travertino in Reading. For a general view of what we do here, meet a decorative finishes specialist in Reading.
Yes. Rivers, trees, boats and bridges all work in low relief. We draw the scene to the scale of your wall first, so you can approve it before any plaster goes on.
Yes. Lighting is planned at the design stage so the channels and recesses are sculpted in from the start, then LED strips are hidden behind the piece. A qualified electrician makes the connections.
Yes. A commission can start from a sketch, a pattern, a photograph or a company logo, drawn to scale for approval before we start.
Yes. It can stay natural white, be painted in full colour, be tinted, or be finished with Venetian plaster, limewash or metallic detail.
To begin a relief, send photos of the wall, its size and your ideas to sales@zavore.co.uk, or call 07592 929191 between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Quote your Reading postcode. If a plaster tone will go behind the carving, the sample board is a good place to start.
Order a sample board tinted to your colour, or send photos and rough measurements of the walls in Reading and we will come back to you with the right finish and a clear quote.
For a quote, email photos and measurements of your walls to sales@zavore.co.uk or call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
See every area we cover.
Our main services: Venetian plaster installation, limewash installation, every decorative installation, Venetian plastering courses, the limewash course and our decorative finishes.
We also supply the trade by post, wherever you are. The shop ships tracked across the UK, and the Academy teaches the finishes in Birmingham, London and Manchester.
Providing luxury finishes for the most prestigious addresses in the world
Venetian plaster, limewash, microcement, tadelakt, metallics, sculptural plaster and gold leaf, supplied and installed by our own team, with Venetian plaster taught at our Birmingham studio.
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