Diocesan School Chapel
Heritage Restoration
Work completed September 2025 in partnership with Aspec Construction, Salmond Reed Architects, and Creative ARCH.
Andrew Plastering was contracted to undertake the specialist heritage plastering works as part of the seismic upgrade and restoration of the Chapel of Our Glorified Lord and St Barnabas at Diocesan School for Girls. The project was completed in September 2025 with Aspec Construction as the main contractor, alongside Salmond Reed Architects as heritage consultants, Creative ARCH as design architects, and Fraser Thomas Engineers.
The Chapel of Our Glorified Lord, an unreinforced masonry building constructed with double brick walls and finished in plaster internally and externally, has stood at the Auckland school since 1922. St Barnabas, a smaller Category 2 timber chapel, was relocated to the site from Parnell. Both chapels were strengthened to 100% of the New Building Standard as part of a comprehensive restoration that employed traditional conservation techniques to preserve their heritage character.
Andrew Plastering's scope extended throughout the Chapel, Chancel, Vestry, foyer, roof parapets, decorative arched windows, and exterior masonry elements. Works included heritage plaster repairs and reinstatement, seismic strengthening plaster repairs following new structural wall installations, traditional NHL lime plaster restoration applied to exposed brickwork within the Vestry, sand cement base coats with gypsum hardwall skim finishes to new concrete areas, and the restoration and matching of existing roughcast and stucco exterior finishes.
The age and complexity of the building meant texture and finish matching demanded a high level of care and hand-applied craftsmanship to achieve consistency across repaired and undisturbed areas. Andrew Plastering has worked alongside Salmond Reed Architects on several heritage projects, and the firm's focus on preserving architectural integrity aligns closely with Andrew Plastering's approach to heritage restoration plastering.
