Hugh Broughton Architects

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The Painted Hall

Careful conservation of Wren's renowned Painted Hall

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Location

Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London

Date

2014 - 2019

Client

Old Royal Naval College

HBA Team

Hugh Broughton, Adam Knight, Owen Pearce, David Roberts, James Waddington, Emma Watson

Collaborators

Martin Ashley Architects
(Surveyor of the Fabric)
SFK Consulting (Structural Engineer)
QODA (Services Engineer)
Tobit Curteis Associates
(Environmental Consultant)
Huntley Cartwright (Cost Consultant)
Simon Leach Design
(Interpretation Designer)
ARC (CGI Visuals)
Coniston (Main Contractor)
Paine and Stewart (Paintings Conservator)

Awards

New London Awards 2018 - Winner (Unbuilt Category)
AIA UK 2019 Design Awards 'Professional Award Commendation'
Museums and Heritage Awards 2019 'Conservation Project of the Year'
RIBA London Award 2019 ‘Conservation Award’
RIBA London Award 2019
RIBA National Award 2019
Georgian Group Architectural Awards 2019 'Best Restoration of a Public Building'
Civic Trust Award 2020
Civic Trust Conservation Commendation 2020
Civic Trust Access Commendation 2020

The Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College is part of the great assembly of buildings designed for Greenwich Hospital by Sir Christopher Wren in 1696 with significant parts executed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh. The Grade I Listed Painted Hall, decorated by Sir James Thornhill, comprises one of the most important Baroque painted interiors in Europe. Although the paintings were conserved in the 1950s, bright sunlight and fluctuations in temperature and humidity had caused damage.

Concept sketches

Concept sketches

The project, which is part-funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, delivers innovative measures to stabilise the environment in the Painted Hall, including a new entrance off College Way leading into the vaulted King William Undercroft, fully revealed for the first time in 100 years. This provides a new welcome area, shop and café supported by refurbished kitchens. The revitalised space is characterised by high-quality craftsmanship. It includes a stone floor, extended leather banquettes, bespoke joinery and a refined bronze, framed glazed screen, which provides a buffer to reduce environmental impact in the Painted Hall.

The Sackler Gallery beyond provides an interpretation space and includes the exposed remains of the palace built by Henry VII, uncovered during the project and now displayed behind an oval glass and bronze balustrade.

Within the Painted Hall, 3700m2 of painted surfaces have been painstakingly conserved and the internal environment stabilised. Environmental measures, including draught proofing, solar shading and specially controlled conservation heating system, have been designed using cutting-edge monitoring and modelling processes to optimise the environment for protection of the paintings in perpetuity, whilst maximising visitor comfort and enjoyment of the remarkable sequence of paintings. Following an enabling phase, which improved means of escape and created inclusive access to the hall, the project has allowed the removal of clutter, concealment of visible services, and installation of discreet lighting and new seating.

A fully accessible scaffold constructed during the project allowed 80,000 visitors to witness the conservation work at close quarters.

Hugh Broughton Architects has worked closely with the College’s Surveyor of the Fabric, Martin Ashley Architects.

Section showing the new welcome space within the Undercroft and the conserved Painted Hall above

Section showing the new welcome space within the Undercroft and the conserved Painted Hall above

Legacy

The Painted Hall wins three more awards

News 11 March 2020

The Painted Hall wins three more awards

The conservation of The Painted Hall in Greenwich has won a 2020 Civic Trust Award, AABC Conservation Award and Selwyn Goldsmith Award. It is the first time in the history of the Civic Trust Awards programme that one project has received three awards.

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Rochester reinvigorated

News 28 November 2019

Rochester reinvigorated

On the Rochester riverside sit two historic buildings, which have been owned by The Rochester Bridge Trust since its foundation more than 600 years ago. Now the Trust have decided to make them more accessible to the public via a refurbishment carried out by Hugh Broughton Architects.

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Winning streak

News 24 May 2019

Winning streak

The project for the Conservation of the Painted Hall has won four design awards in the last month.

Firstly the scheme won a Professional Award from the UK Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, shortly followed by the accolade of 'Conservation Project of the Year' at the Museum and Heritage Awards. More recently the scheme was the recipient of an RIBA London Award for Architecture as well as the prestigious accolade of  'RIBA London Conservation Project of the Year'.

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The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2018

News 14 October 2018

The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2018

Hugh Broughton has made his first appearance in 'The Progress 1000: London's most influential people of 2018', as one of London's most influential visualisers. The list, compiled by The Evening Standard, spans 11 different categories and includes 30 notable architects.

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Greenwich Happy Time

News 1 October 2018

Greenwich Happy Time

The Conservation of the Painted Hall, designed by HBA for the Old Royal Naval College, has won the New London Architecture Award for Unbuilt Conservation Project 2018. Work is currently on site and the Painted Hall and undercroft will reopen to the public in the Spring of 2019.

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Green light for work at Greenwich's Painted Hall

News 26 April 2016

Green light for work at Greenwich's Painted Hall

Our project for the conservation of Sir Christopher Wren's Painted Hall at Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College has been granted Scheduled Ancient Monument consent and awarded a £3.2M grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the £8M project cost.

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