Leighton House Museum
|
Europa Nostra Conservation Award
Lighting Design Heritage Award
RIBA London Arts & Leisure Award
Museums & Heritage Award for Restoration or Conservation (Shortlisted)
RICS London Award for Conservation (Shortlisted)
RICS London Award for Community Benefit (Shortlisted)
Leighton House Museum, located on the edge of Holland Park, was the studio home of well-known Victorian painter Frederic, Lord Leighton, designed by George Aitchison and constructed between 1865 and 1896. We were appointed to lead a £1.2m conservation, refurbishment and restoration programme to realise the client’s ambitious plans to return the house to the full glory of Leighton’s and Aitchison’s original architectural vision.
The ambitious scheme included the meticulous restoration of the building’s original ziggurat parapets, historic interiors and magnificent Arab Hall gilded ceiling dome, newly illuminated by the refurbished gasolier.
|
We produced a room-by-room gazetteer to ensure that all of the interiors were fully appreciated, including a full appraisal of the mosaics and wall tiles in the Arab, Narcissus and Staircase Halls.
|
Our Conservation Management Plan helped the client to understand the house in its context and tackled important issues for the future of the building. We were appointed to lead a significant programme of conservation and restoration.
|
The Arab Hall’s original marble columns, 16th and 17th Century Islamic tiles and floor mosaics are key features of Leighton House. They had been carefully monitored by specialist conservators and were consolidated, conserved and cleaned during the refurbishment process.
|
The gilded dome of the Arab Hall, a unique architectural feature, was carefully researched to establish the original decorative scheme. It was then reinstated using traditional gilding and hand-painted techniques.
|
Based on historic photographs, the lighting was recreated to illuminate the interiors as they would have appeared using no more artificial light than that available to Leighton.
|
The house’s ziggurats are distinctive architectural features that were removed in 1959. They were reinstated using carefully detailed, handmade bricks to enrich the original ornamental parapets.
|
Historic paint, wallcoverings and detail samples from original materials were researched. Following extensive trial development, they were sourced and reproduced in the reconstruction of the historic decorative scheme.
|
Craftsmen produced silk wall coverings and flock wallpaper using 19th Century methods. The interiors now convey a more authentic sense and understanding of Leighton’s aesthetics and decorative vision.
|
The renewed services systems, discretely installed, now deliver the environmental conditions required to balance the needs of the collection with the use of the building for special occasions.
|
The reinstatement of the carefully detailed, handmade brick ziggurats restores the character of this unique Victorian townhouse within its neighbourhood, originally an important artist enclave.
|
Major interventions adhered to strict conditions so there were no significant physical or visual alterations. The replacement of the studio stage to incorporate an air conditioning system reduces its physical impact.
|
The refurbishment of the Museum’s Arab Hall stimulates cultural exchange and interaction through a range of diverse artistic presentations and educational events.