Venetian Plaster, Birmingham
The workhorse of the Venetian family. Depth and movement without shine, and fully breathable, which is why it belongs on old walls.
Marmorino is slaked lime with a coarser marble aggregate, laid in two or three coats and either left matt or burnished to a low sheen. It has visible movement in it — cloud, depth, the mark of the trowel — without the mirror surface of polished plaster. It is more forgiving on a large wall, and it ages better: lime carries on carbonating for years, so the surface hardens rather than degrades.
The Marmorino we work with is supplied by Zavoré, tinted to the agreed colour before it leaves the warehouse rather than mixed on site.
This is usually the right answer on a solid wall. If a building predates cavity construction — Victorian, Georgian, anything with lath behind the plaster — the wall needs to move moisture, and Marmorino lets it. A sealed modern finish on the same wall traps water and pushes the damage somewhere worse, usually two winters later. It also suits large walls in raking light, where a high sheen would show every ripple.
Base coat, then two coats of Marmorino worked with the trowel while it sets. It can be left open and matt, burnished to a soft sheen, or waxed. Colour is tinted into the material rather than painted on, so a chip does not reveal a different colour underneath.
Our own projects, photographed on site. Not every photograph on this page is this finish — the gallery is grouped by project and says which is which.
Our studio is in Birmingham. These are the cities we are asked for this in most often, and each has its own page.
A photograph and a rough size is enough to begin. You will have next steps within one working day, and a sample panel made in your finish before anything is agreed.
Send us a photograph of the wall and a rough size. We will tell you what it needs and roughly what it costs.
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