Key Facts
- Client: British Museum
- Balfour Beatty company involved: Mansell
- Mansell has completed 29 projects to date for the Grade I listed British Museum, with which it has a 12-year working relationship
- Two projects contributed to the rejuvenation of the East Wing of the Museum, worth a total of £5.5 million and taking 84 weeks to complete
- Renamed the Enlightenment Gallery, the restoration of the ground floor King’s Library involved a variety of specialist trades and traditional craft skills
- It is one of the largest public rooms in London, at over 90m long, 12m wide and 9m high and was completed in time for the British Museum’s 250th anniversary celebrations
- Massive Aberdeen granite Corinthian columns, coffered ceiling, oak bookcases, mahogany flooring, ornate masonry, window recesses and hundreds of square metres of fibrous plaster were all repaired, conserved and restored to their 1820s magnificence
- Mansell also cleaned and repaired the masonry and, behind the scenes, carried out extensive mechanical and electrical (M&E) work, including the plant rooms
- The second contract involved the conversion of four separate gallery spaces into one beautifully proportioned exhibition space
- Three areas were merged to form one extensive viewing space, including the conversion of storage areas
- Oak floors were conserved, high level heating units installed within wall cavities and ceiling mounted light fixtures replaced
- Another complex M&E overhaul was carefully designed and concealed to avoid impacting the aesthetic of the final gallery area
- The exceptional surroundings required special consideration: macaques and murals that could not be relocated were protected using temporary hoardings; much of the work was completed out of opening hours to avoid disruption to the day-to-day functioning of the Museum
- This project was the winner of the Crown Estate Conservation Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
