Guildhall Banqueting Room & Aix-en-Provence Room
Restoration Scheme 2007
The Guildhall was built between 1775-1779 by Thomas Baldwin to
replace the previous Guildhall which was located to the east of the
present High St. The central Dome and extensions to the north and
south were added by John McKean from 1891 onwards. The Guildhall is
a principle building of Bath and has Grade I listed status and as
such is a building of the very highest quality.
Following extensive restoration works to the Banqueting Room and
Aix-en Provence Room carried out by Property Services Building
Consultancy under the control of Miles Barnes, a Chartered Building
Surveyor, both rooms have now reopened to the public.
The Banqueting Room is regarded as one of the finest Adam style
interiors in the country. The three magnificent chandeliers were
made especially for the room in 1778 by William Parker of London,
who also supplied the chandeliers for the Assembly Rooms at
Bath.
The Banqueting Room restorations include essential maintenance
works to the elaborate chandeliers, re-dressing the windows,
cleaning of paintings, redecorations, and cleaning/re-surfacing of
the floors.
The Works:
Chandeliers
- Conservation work carried out by Brotheridge Chandeliers
of Lancashire.
- Wilkinson PLC of London.
- Winch mechanism repair works carried out by Alpha Winching
& Lifting Ltd
The three chandeliers were made in 1778 by William Parker of
Fleet Street, London. William Parker previously made the Ball Room
chandeliers at the Assembly Rooms, Bath. The chandeliers at the
Assembly Rooms are regarded as being of the finest quality
chandeliers in the country and are extremely rare and valuable.
There are far more original glass arms on the Guildhall chandeliers
suggesting construction lessons were learnt by the time the
Guildhall chandeliers were commissioned.
Inevitable style alterations have taken place particularly after
the Regency period, when swags of double point crystal buttons were
added according to the fashion at that time.
In the early Victorian period the chandeliers were converted to
gas from candle. The old wooden drum and chain winching gear was
removed and replaced with hollow gas pipes which fed gas to the
light fitting direct from the mains gas supply.
To accommodate the thick gas pipes and allow them to fit inside
the chandeliers the internal structural sleeves originally inside
the glass core was discarded. Restacked glass canopies, spears and
urns were simply loaded one on top of the other which resulted in
very high crushing loads being exerted on the delicate lead
crystal, particularly near the bottom of the stack. This problem
has not been addressed until now.
The chandeliers have new silvered restraint sleeves with spacers
to prevent crushing of the delicate lead crystal. New load tested
chains are to be used instead of the old gas poles and two large
canopies replaced with inferior pieces have been manufactured and
installed.
Decorations
NKS Contracts Ltd
- Johnson Paints (Technical Team)
Decorations to the Banqueting Room were last carried out in
1983. The room is used for many functions and is in continual
public use. The room accommodates thousands of visitors every year
and was showing signs of wear. Property Services (Building
Consultancy) orchestrated a programme of conservation/maintenance
to bring the Banqueting Room back into its former glory. The
existing colours were matched utilising the expertise of Johnson
Paints Technical Team and the work executed with care and skill to
bring the room up to a high standard of repair. There were
particular difficulties in working in such an important
building. The type and weight of scaffolding had to be
carefully considered along with the storage of volatile paints.
With the building in continuous use the need to reduce obnoxious
smelling paint, working within a very tight deadline for completion
and minimal disruption were major considerations.
With quality such an important consideration, the work was
tendered using a 50-50 cost quality split, essentially making the
tendering contractors prove how they can deliver high quality
service and work at competitive rates. Incentives for early
completion and zero defects were also used.
NKS Contracts were selected for the work on the basis of the
quality and delivery of past projects and how they manage projects
along with skill base and their commitment to customer
satisfaction. The Site Foreman entrusted with this project was
Kevin Baber.
Window Treatments
- Shay Parsons (Interior Designer)
Shay Parsons was brought in to re-design the window soft
furnishings. The existing Austrian type blinds installed in
the early 1980’s were in a state of disrepair and cleaning proved
to be non effective in removing soiling. Alternatives were
researched using John Fowler and John Carnforth’s ‘English
Decoration in the 18th Century’. This established that festoon type
curtains were fashionable from around 1750 and were preferred when
there was considerable ‘dead space’ from between the top of
architraves to the cornicing, allowing the curtains to fold up
without restricted valuable natural daylight.
New gilded pelmets and draw curtains in Damask Silk have been
introduced carefully complementing the decoration scheme. The new
arrangement will allow 30% more natural daylight into the room and
should give a greater vibrancy to the colours.
Flooring
Moran Flooring
The flooring in the Banqueting Hall is made of the finest Dutch
Oak. The floors have been repaired and re-lacquered to brighten the
room. Moran Flooring are well versed in projects of this nature and
has worked on many of the Council’s other principle buildings and
are expert in repairing and maintaining historic floors.
Miles Barnes (Chartered Building Surveyor)
The management at Property Services Consultancy have taken a
pro-active role in assigning funds to look after these historic
properties; with sensible funding commitment and management the
quality of Baths heritage can be managed and maintained well into
the future. To have the opportunity to work on fine historic
buildings such as the Guildhall is a real privilege.
For more information contact Miles Barnes (Building Surveyor)
Property Services Consultancy 01225 477851
