The Art Gallery building continues to grow and change, as work progresses I have shown you images and glimpses of scaffold (lots of it!) steel work, brickwork, muddy holes, demolished floors, walls and new gallery spaces.

However some of the things we don’t see on the surface are the most important aspects of building work that hold the building together and future proof it for generations to come.

When embarking on a project with an old building you are aware that there will be some surprises as you peel back the layers of time, these surprises may be happy but some can be challenging.

One such challenging surprise was finding out we had a gable wall which was out of line by 20 degrees and had a slight wobble to it! This wall was no ordinary gable wall it was in fact the gable wall to the Victorian roof space – a wall integral to the project and the building itself.

 

The problem with this wall is likely to be historical. The gallery was hit by a bomb during the 1942 Baedacker raids destroying the wooden exhibition hall. Damage was also sustained to the intermediary buildings, including the art school additions.

The hall was taken down and army hutments were built on the area along with a modern flat roofed warehouse like extension to the rear of the gallery against the Victorian gallery space and the aforementioned wall. This extension was probably built 1945 -1952. The bomb no doubt weakened the wall and caused this movement.

 

Finding this problem was inevitable however, we had to overcome it and formulate a solution on how to fix the gable end. Lots of options were discussed with our contractors and structural engineers on how to make this wobble safe and sturdy once again.

This meant that a design compromising of new steel and existing steel was needed to brace the wall.

The design included 4 additional steel columns from ground to roof level, braced to existing steel columns. There is also a frame arrangement to stabilise the gable wall at roof level connected through the roof to the new column arrangement below. All in all it was a pretty complicated problem to overcome and a lot of work which has required lots of preparatory works and piling.

The works to stabilise the wall are still ongoing it is good to have peace of mind that everything is now being made stable and being fixed.

Throughout the stabling works work has continued to drive forward the project both inside and outside the gallery. We have the beginnings of a decorative brick plant screen being built along the top of the 1950’s block.

 

New roof lights have been installed in the CoCA 2 gallery space, scaffold has been dropped to reveal the stone works and restoration works to the front of the building looking out onto exhibition square.

 

The decorative mouldings in the Victorian roof space and cornicing throughout the gallery spaces are being restored.

 

The roof trusses are currently being painted and the new roof lights in the space have been fitted making the space light and airy. It really is quite breathtaking!

 

So there you have it a secure gable wall for generations to come and a redevelopment that is moving forward despite challenges that come our way!