IHBC Yearbook 2010

26 Y e a r b o o k 2 0 1 0 any contents. Gradually paintings and drawings by Leighton were collected and the studio was used for concerts, lectures and other activities. In 1925 the Leighton House Association, which had run the museum since 1900, finally sold it for a small sum to the local authority, which was then the Royal Borough of Kensington. Bomb damaged twice in the second world war, it was not until the mid-1950s that the house was restored. No attempt was made to recreate the original Victorian splendour of the interiors and it was only in the early 1980s that a concerted effort was made to recreate the decor as Leighton had known it. Further restoration projects continued through the 1990s and into the early years of the new century. This sustained investment by the council had returned the house to an excellent condition, but in 2006 a Conservation Management Plan and Condition Survey was commissioned from the architects Purcell Miller Tritton. While the report confirmed the sound condition of the fabric, it highlighted the poor state of both the electrical infrastructure, which had been added to in a piecemeal fashion over many years, and gasfired central heating system, which remained largely unchanged since it was first installed in the late 1920s. Both needed replacing. The latter was failing to provide appropriate environmental conditions for the safe display of the paintings collection and was compromising the museum’s ability to borrow works from other museums and private collections. The fire detection and intruder detection systems were similarly nearing the end of their useful life. It was therefore agreed that a bid to the council’s capital expenditure programme would be made. At its core was the complete renewal of the house’s mechanical and electrical services but, given the upheaval that would be caused, the opportunity was taken to look again at other aspects of the fabric and presentation of the house. Purcell Miller Tritton were appointed to draw up a detailed specification of works supported by the mechanical and electrical consultants, Harley Haddow. The specification was costed by the quantity surveyors Sawyer & Fisher and the submission made to the council. In February 2008 a £1.6 million project was agreed and work started on the development of the tender documents with a proposed nine month contract period starting in January 2009. Coniston Ltd were appointed as the principal contractors in the autumn of 2008 and the museum closed in October. In July 2008, the project architect Dante Vanoli had met on site with officers from the council’s conservation planning section and with the relevant English Heritage inspector in order to go through the scope of the proposed works. The museum had had regular contact with colleagues in this section in relation to previous projects at the house and at its sister museum, 18 Stafford Terrace, Linley Sambourne House. Leighton House is surrounded by a unique group of other artists’ studio-houses of the late nineteenth century and again this had brought the curatorial staff into close working contact with the conservation planning section. There was therefore a good basis for ongoing discussions about the project. A formal submission for listed building consent was subsequently submitted in August 2008 and granted. As the project unfolded, four issues arose that required further discussion in relation to listed building consent. Of these, it was decided that a further listed building application was required only in relation to a pair of contemporary glass doors required to form a security and thermal barrier between Leighton’s studio and the glass winter studio at the east end of the house. The project was completed just three weeks later than scheduled in late November 2009. There then followed an intensive period of cleaning and the gradual repopulation of the interiors with the paintings and textiles that had been specially commissioned. As ever, the success of the project was due to the contribution of a great many individuals not least the positive involvement of the local authority’s conservation and design team and English Heritage. David McDonald is the conservation and design team leader, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Daniel Robbins is the senior curator of the Leighton House Museum. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their employer. The Dining Room (Photo: Justin Barton/ Leighton House Museum)

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