34 CASE STUDY (3) PALACERESTORED Following the disastrous fire at Hampton Court Palace in 1986, the PSA, English Heritage and contractor James Longley have completed painstaking repairs to Wren's buildings. Late last year the restored south range of Hampton Court Palace (which had been almost entirely destroyed by fire on Easter Monday 1986) was handed back to The Historic Royal Palaces Agency. This was one of the largest and most complex restoration projects undertaken in this country since the War, and it broke new ground in the fields of salvage, rescue and conservation. Furthermore, the contract was completed on time and 14% within oudget. James Longley & Co. was awarded the restoration contract by PSA Building Management, London, from an initial application list of 31 companies. Total costs for the entire restoration were estimated at £10-13 million, with the main building contract worth £5.4 million. As the PSA pointed out in its brief, "This project involves major works to ... <;meof the most important historic monuments in the country." The restored State Apartments finally opened again to the public this summer. Hampton Court has been the sire of a Royal Palace since 1529, when Henry VIII 'acquired' the residence from Cardinal Wolsey. In 1689, William and Mary, newly crowned joint monarchs, commissioned Sir The Cartoon Gallery immediately after thefire in 1986 Christopher Wren to modify the Palace so that they could cake up residence away from the smog of London. Wren, as Surveyor-General of the King's Works, originally planned to demolish most of the Tudor buildings to make way for a new Baroque palace, intended co rival Versailles. Mary's sudden death and the monarchy's lack of f_unds called a halt to this scheme but, although Wren completed only the two elevations which house the State Apartments, he still created the illusion of a magnificent Baroque palace when approached from the Thames. On 30 April 1986, a fire broke out in the third floor Grace and Favour Apartments, _and was only discovered some four hours after it had started in Lady Gale's bedroom. She, tragically, died in the fire. Voids behind panelling and through floors provided ideal conduits for the fire to travel without being detected by the existing alarm system. The Grace and Favour Apartments were largely burnt out, leaving a gaping hole in the roof, and timbers were sent crashing through to floors below destroying everything in their path. From Easter 1986 to 1 October 1988, the PSA, advised by English Heritage, carried out a massive rescue and salvage operation. It quickly established the principle chat the Palace should be restored using traditional materials and construction techniques. Everything and anything that was reusable was recovered from the debris, dried out, labelled and stored for later reinstatement. In record time, a temporary roof was erected to protect the burnt-out area from the elements and to enable extensive architectural, engineering, archaeological and photogrammecric surveys to be completed. Every crystal from the Audience Chamber's chandelier was salvaged from the rubble - it had crashed to the floor when the ceiling collapsed, yet could be entirely rebuilt and restored to its former glory. Longley's contract comprised two phases. For the first 6 months, the contractor worked with the original working party, surveying in detail the salvaged carvings, panelling and structural elements to determine which remnants could be reused. A remarkable 60% of the salvaged material was found suitable for reinstatement. The cornice to the Cartoon Galleryfolly repaired, showing old and new work. CONTEXT 36
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