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Where Artistry Begins
Learn to make plaster read as stone, or to carve rockwork over a frame. Taught by working applicators at our training centres in Birmingham, London and Manchester, on the Advanced Course or as 1 to 1 Training.
The artificial rock course is taught at our training centres in Birmingham (the Zavoré Academy), London and Manchester by working applicators, and it covers two trades that share one name. One is stone effect plaster, a lime coating that makes a flat wall read as travertine, limestone or concrete. The other is carved rockwork, where mortar is built over a frame and carved into boulders, grottos and pool edges. It suits decorators, plasterers, builders, designers and homeowners, and you choose which trade you want to learn.
Because the two trades are so different, the syllabus has two halves. You can lean towards one, and the days follow you.
The line between the two matters in practice. Boulders, grottos, waterfalls, pool surrounds and climbing walls need a carved build over a frame, not a coating. Fireplaces, bath surrounds and bar fronts that should simply read as stone are a plaster job.
There are two ways in. The Advanced Course includes artificial rock, and it runs for 4 days, 10am to 5pm, at £1,200 for up to six students. It suits people who have done the Beginner Course or who come from site.
The second is 1 to 1 Training, which is 3 days, 10am to 5pm, for £1,500. It takes any level and is shaped entirely around what you want to learn, so it is the way to go deep on carved rockwork or on one stone effect.
Hold your bench with half the price by ringing 07592 929191 or emailing sales@zavore.co.uk, and pay the balance on the day. You can also book online and pay in full. Dates are agreed after booking and shown on the Training Academy page. Teams can ask us about private group training.
The artificial rock course runs at our three training centres, in Birmingham, London and Manchester, at the same price. Whether you choose stone effect plaster or carved rockwork, and the Advanced Course or 1 to 1 Training, you can take it at any of the three centres. Choose London if you live in London or the South East, Manchester if you are in the North West, and Birmingham if you are in the Midlands, or pick the centre that is easiest for you to reach. You choose the centre and your dates when you book, by phone on 07592 929191 or by email to sales@zavore.co.uk.
If you are travelling to Birmingham, there is a partner hotel rate near the Zavoré Academy (quote Zavoré when you book), and pickups can be arranged for a price that depends on where you arrive.
Afterwards you can buy stone effect plasters and sealer from the Zavoré shop at trade pricing, and the trade page explains more. Keep your texture boards, because on your next job a board you made yourself is a reliable reference to hold up against the wall.
Decorators and plasterers can add a stone look that needs no fixings, no weight allowance and no lost inches from the room. Builders and landscapers who face garden rooms, pool surrounds and feature walls get a clear route to carving. Designers learn what each trade can and cannot do before they draw it. Homeowners with a chimney breast or a bath surround can practise first on boards.
Read more about artificial rock as a finish or the Journal guide to artificial rock feature walls. If you would rather have it done, see artificial rock installation.
Other finishes taught at our three training centres.
For polished lime, see the Venetian plastering courses.
Both trades sit under the name artificial rock, and you choose. Carved rockwork is built in inches over a frame and carved. Stone effect plaster is a coating a few millimetres thick that takes its stone character from the trowel. Tell us which you want and the days are built around it.
Not for 1 to 1 Training, which takes any level. The Advanced Course suits people who have done the Beginner Course or come from site, because it builds on trowel skills you already have.
On the Advanced Course it is 4 days, 10am to 5pm. As 1 to 1 Training it is 3 days, 10am to 5pm. Dates are agreed with you after booking and shown on the Training Academy page.
Yes. The artificial rock course runs at our training centres in Birmingham (the Zavoré Academy), London and Manchester, at the same price. London suits London and the South East, Manchester suits the North West, and Birmingham suits the Midlands. You choose the centre and your dates when you book. There is a partner hotel rate near the Birmingham Academy if you need to stay, and pickups can be arranged there.
To ask a question or hold your bench, ring 07592 929191 or email sales@zavore.co.uk.
Courses run at our training centres in Birmingham, London and Manchester, 10am to 5pm, with every material and tool provided. Call or email to agree your dates, or book online.
Call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, or email sales@zavore.co.uk.
Rather have it done for you? See our installations, or buy the materials in the shop with tracked UK delivery.
Providing luxury finishes for the most prestigious addresses in the world
Venetian plaster, limewash, microcement, tadelakt, metallics, sculptural plaster and gold leaf, supplied and installed by our own team, with Venetian plaster taught at our Birmingham studio.
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