We are delighted to be working once again for Historic Royal Palaces, this time at Kew Palace on the Royal Kitchens.
Kew Palace gives a wonderful insight into royal life during the 18th and early 19th-century. Visitors often wonder where food was prepared and the answers lie in the Royal Kitchens. This dedicated building formed an architectural set-piece with the lost White House, but has remained unnoticed and used for storage for the last 200 years.
Constructed in 1731 by William Kent and Thomas Ripley, the building included a great kitchen complete with roasting ranges, hobs, boilers and a vast array of equipment, as well as a scullery, bake-house and larder to store, cook and provide all the food necessary for the royal table.
A survey by our specialists identified a number of areas of concern; Failure of the pediment roof, particularly in the valleys where water ingress had resulted in significant areas of rot, sagging floor timbers and rot to the ends of timbers set in previously damp masonry.
Carpenter Oak & Woodland have been contracted to undertake the conservation of the timber structure. Many of the repairs are being done with steelwork to conserve as much of the original fabric as possible. We regularly strengthen period structures with steel for this very reason.
Where possible timber repairs are being used and reinforced with resin where necessary. Timbers with large fissures are being strengthened with steel pins and resin putty. Steel flitch plates are being used to strengthen sagging 6.2m floor beams.
We currently have a five man team on site and expect the work to take about three weeks.
More information
For more information about this news story, please contact:
E-mail: Laura Martin
