Major Refurbishment of Grade II* Listed building to provide a controlled environment to the unique collection of historical botanical artwork
Built in the 1890s to display the collection of 832 botanical paintings by the Marianne North.
The works included major repair and restoration work, replacing the roof coverings and installing new services, including new optical-fibre lighting, historic pendant light fittings, and new environmental controls. Access facilities have been improved with the new installation of a lift. The original stencilled decoration of the upper level and the geometric floor tiling, lost in the 1930s, has been restored based on a single historic photograph, and a new interpretation room was formed along with a removable screen within the gallery. Due to the long history of high moisture content in the walls, the paintings are now rehung on rails designed to permit natural airflow behind them.
£2.2m
Quantity Surveyor / Project Manager - Fanshawe
Architect - Donald Insall Architects
Building Services - Atelier Ten
Structure - Michael Barclay Partnership
Quantity Surveying
Project Management
September 2009
