WE CARE ABOUT YOUR BRONZE FACADES
Cleaning bronze facades and architectural features needs an expert team because bronze is a reactive material. Commercial cleaning products, abrasives and heavy-handed work can ruin your bronze.
Bronze facades and architectural features should be a thing of great beauty and we can help you keep them that way.
Bronze begins to look poor quickly when it is handled regularly, or there is continuous contact with the public and general neglect. We are used to handling large bronze facades and architectural features. If you are keen to keep the standard of your bronze high, then we can advise and help you.
However, we wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we didn’t tell you the whole story: bronze needs maintenance. Without cleaning bronze facades regularly, the condition will drop off rapidly.
Clients that commit to cleaning their bronze facades all year-round, quickly see a difference and understand that as with many things in life, little and often is the best way forward.
RESTORING BRONZE FACADES
The bronze patina on facades or architectural features is also known as a BMA Finish. BMA is an old name used to describe the traditional dark bronze colour that is typically found on historic architectural bronze. Features that will have a BMA finish include doors, bronze fittings, window frames and facades. BMA stands for Bronze Metal Antique.
A copper alloy substrate is necessary to create a true BMA finish. Bronze finishes on steels or aluminium are imitations.
BMA finishing is a particularly pleasing bronze patina. Chemicals applied to the bronze’s surface form a rich, dark bronze shade. There are many chemical recipes that can produce unique colours on bronze though the vast majority are not particularly stable on exterior architectural surfaces. The reason that the BMA finish has been so popular for so long is that it is stable, provided bronze maintenance is undertaken.
Sometimes cleaning bronze facades just isn’t enough and restoration is the next step. We specialise in restoration and maintenance of BMA finishes, features and fittings in situ. Also, we undertake the repatination of older existing bronze where the patina has failed over time or has suffered damage.
BRONZE FACADE CLEANING OF SELFRIDGES & CO, LONDON
Selfridges & Co, Best Department Store in the World Oxford Street, London
One of the buildings whose bronze we maintain is the incredible, historic, department store, Selfridges in London. Did you know that it was recently voted Best Department Store in the world?
Buildings like this have such high numbers of people touching their doors and handles every day, that the bronze patina becomes tatty and scratched quickly.
Our approach is a reactive one. We segment our work so that part of it is ongoing restoration, while the rest of our time focuses on cleaning and protecting the bronze surfaces.
When dealing with a building as large as Selfridges, we rotate focus on differing areas. This means that all areas get the attention they need over the course of the cycle.
BRONZE FACADE RESTORATION AT ST JOHNS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
St Johns College, Cambridge
The Cripps Buildings, St Johns College, designed by Powell & Moya, was completed in 1967. They accommodate the students who study at the college and are the first buildings in England designed with computers.
The modern style of the facades intergrate traditional materials of bronze with stone. After decades of use, the bronze window frames were corroding extensively, many had stopped sliding smoothly, and features like bronze handles needed repair.
During a large refurbishment project, the bronze restoration of these key features was of prime importance. We were able to survey, assess, and make recommendations for this project and then undertake the work in situ. Large projects like this are where we excel and have a proven track record.
Take a look at our bronze restoration page to see some more examples of our work.
