As part of an award-winning restoration project spanning several years, AEC Museum and Gallery was entrusted with framing and hanging large and intricate artworks at Leighton House Museum. Working directly with the client and collaborating with structural engineers and art hangers, we helped complete this project successfully.
About Leighton House Museum
The Leighton House Museum is an art museum and historic house in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London.
The building was the London home of painter Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896), who commissioned the architect and designer George Aitchison to build him a combined home and studio noted for its incorporation of tiles and other elements purchased in the Near East to build a magnificent Qa’a (room). The resulting building, completed between 1866 and 1895 on the privately owned Ilchester Estate, is now Grade II* listed. It is noted for its elaborate Orientalist and aesthetic interiors.
The museum has been open to the public since 1929. In 1958 the London County Council commemorated Leighton with a blue plaque at the museum. The museum was awarded the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2012.
The Project
Objectives
AEC Museum & Gallery was tasked with framing and hanging two large artworks (up to 5.2m x 1m) and two medium-sized artworks constructed on thick plaster.
Our solution
The pieces were supported by a custom metal frame that clamped the artwork and provided additional support.
The frame’s intricate installation was affixed to the wall using thin metal fins, creating a sleek design that ensured the art remained the focal point.
Collaborative work and challenges faced
The significant challenge lay in the artwork’s dimensions and the supporting frame’s requirements. Our collaborating engagement with structural engineers and designers was crucial to create a cost-effective yet aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound system.
Following the bespoke project’s installation by our team, we conducted load testing to ensure the safety and integrity of the supports before the art hangers installed the artwork.
Achievements
The project not only achieved its functional and aesthetic goals but also gained recognition by winning the AJ Architecture Cultural Project Award and being shortlisted for the Civic Trust Award.
Services / products used
Visit Products We Work With and Engineering Services to find out more about the services and products we provided.
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