Parramatta Town Hall

Parramatta Town Hall

The Parramatta Town Hall, Built in 1881 by builders Hart and Lavor’s.

The ceiling in the Charles Byrnes room which had been covered in the 1940’s with a fibrous plaster ceiling fixed to timber battens, and then a lower suspended ceiling added in the 1960’s.

A collapse of a section of cornice caused both the fibrous plaster and the suspended ceiling to be damaged leading to a plan for replacement.

Removal of the suspended ceiling and then the fibrous ceiling revealed the original hand stencilled ceiling so the plan to replace was changed in an effort to retain the original ceiling.

Westox were called in to advise on the work and provide a specification to retain the original ceiling which was done using the Westox RAP ceiling reinstatement system. Once reinstated repairs were carried out taking care to maintain the original stencil work. A copy of the ceiling roses in the main hall was made to replace the missing rose from the Charles Byrne Room which would have been the same as the original rose.

Painting of the ceiling was carried out avoiding painting over the original stencilling.