The carved cavity holds every intention of the piece: the fall of a shadow, the roll of a shoulder, the exact depth of a shadow line pressed into wet plaster.
The pink mass rises between open mold halves. Two seam drips mark where the plaster was poured and where it settled, and a pour pool gathers at the base.
Cast at 79 Wattville Road
CSIArt is the casting practice of CSI ART BUILDING LTD, a Birmingham studio that builds integrated art for architects and developers. We turn a drawn elevation into a physical surface, then press that surface into editions that can be installed, repaired and understood for decades.
Large-format panels that carry relief, pattern and figure across a whole elevation. We model, mold and cast in glass-reinforced plaster and mineral composite so the facade reads as one continuous cast rather than a field of tiles. Each panel is numbered and tracked from first pour to final fix.
Drawn stories raised from a flat wall. Bas-relief, alto-relief and incised line work cast as single pieces or assembled in sequence, then finished to suit interior lobbies, courtyards and public thresholds.
Bench work for joiners, fit-out teams and heritage contractors. Cornices, capitals, brackets, architraves and one-off decorative elements cast to a measured drawing, delivered ready to install with a matching touch-up kit.
When the artwork must belong to one place, we survey the site, respond to light and approach, then cast and install on location. Every fixing, joint and shadow gap is resolved before the first panel leaves the bench.
We sit beside the design team from concept stage: advising on scale, material, budget, maintenance and the integration of artwork with structure, services and cladding. The result is a commission that survives value engineering and planning scrutiny without losing its intent.
Loss of a historic cast element is not the end of it. We take a silicone master from an original or a surviving fragment, then reproduce the profile in a compatible plaster and finish it to match aged context.
Every commission begins as a brief rather than a drawing. We meet the architect, walk the site, and agree what the surface must do: filter light, hold a silhouette, mark an entrance, or carry a story across a long elevation. From that conversation we build a model at a scale we can hold, correcting proportion by eye before any material is committed.
The model becomes a mold. We carve and line the negative, decide where the piece will split, and test the release on a sample panel. Only then do we pour. The plaster is mixed to a controlled ratio and worked into the cavity by hand, watched as it sets, struck when it is firm but still warm. The cast cures slowly under cover, is trimmed at the seam, and is finished with the grade of surface the design calls for.
Installation is the last pour of the same idea. Panels travel crated, arrive sequenced, and are fixed to a setting-out line agreed with the main contractor. A numbered record follows each piece so the building keeps a true account of what was cast, when, and in which edition.
We choose plasters, aggregates and mineral binders for how they behave over decades rather than how they look on the day of casting. A facade lives with weather, pollution and touch, so the surface we cast is dense, repairable and honest about its own making. Glass-reinforced plaster gives thin panels real strength, while mineral composite carries fine relief without chipping at the edge of a shadow line.
Each commission produces an edition, and each piece within it carries a number, a date and a finish reference. That record lets a building owner order a matching replacement years later, or ask us to recast a damaged element from the retained master. The edition is not a marketing device; it is the maintenance manual for a work of art.
Before the full run begins we cast a first article and hold it against the approved model. This is our proof that the mold releases cleanly, the finish is even and the setting-out is correct. Only when the first cast is signed off do we commit the main body of material to the run, which is why our rework rate stays low and our clients see no surprises on site.
CSIArt prefers to join a project early, when the surface is still a question rather than a fixed order. At that stage we can test proportion in a study model, advise on weight and fixing, and align the casting programme with the cladding and glazing packages. Early involvement almost always costs less than correcting a clash after tender.
CSI ART BUILDING LTD is reserving casting time for facades, relief works and one-off plaster fabrication this autumn. Studios and developers with a live project are invited to book a casting brief and walk the bench with us.
Book a Casting Brief