The Les Darcy Vault in Maitland II: Matching the Historic Design

We've got our design!  In consultation with the team of experts that Maitland City Council has brought together for the Les Darcy grave restoration under Aaron Cook, we've agreed to specifications for the replacement kerbset which should be great. 

A historic photo from the National Library of Australia provides great evidence:

©National Library of Australia      http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3772881

As you can see (hopefully) the new kerbs should be a great match for the historic ones

After discussions and solid deliberation with the project team from Maitland City Council, I did a series of test versions using Google Sketchup. The 3D modelling allowed me to keep trying different options to find the best possible match... with shadows and the ability to change perspective, its very powerful... and, up to now, all my playing around with Sketchup was, well, playing around. All of a sudden I can do something specifically useful!?!

After discussions and solid deliberation with the project team from Maitland City Council, I did a series of test versions using Google Sketchup. The 3D modelling allowed me to keep trying different options to find the best possible match... with shadows and the ability to change perspective, its very powerful... and, up to now, all my playing around with Sketchup was, well, playing around. All of a sudden I can do something specifically useful!?!

The pillar design with joggle hole.

One thing I found most interesting was that the 'check' on the pillars is not formed by a square cutting or an architectural cavetto (quarter-round hollow) but is, instead, created by a shallow v-cut.  Even a very shallow angled cut produces strong shadown with dark and light contrasting bands which are visually arresting...  and yet requires very little stone removal.