Enriching Buildings, People & Communities
About the
Project
St George’s Hall opened in 1854 and is a true Liverpool Landmark, the building is not only recognised for its architectural interest, but it also provides the city with an iconic venue for celebrations, exhibitions, weddings, and conferences.
The ceiling of the Grade I listed hall had not had a significant upgrade or investment in over 70 years and in 2022 a quarter of a million-pound investment was made to ensure that the building remained in impeccable condition for the future. Hankinson Whittle were selected as local specialist conservation decorators to elegantly restore the Great Hall ceiling, which when built, was one of the largest barrel-vaulted ceilings in the world and is a tremendous 82 ft high with a span of 145 ft long and 72 ft wide.
As a focal point for heritage, it was essential that we respected and maintained the building during the refurbishment, ensuring minimal disruption to the original fabric of the building. Our team of restoration specialists scoured every inch of the ceiling to identify and remove loose paint work, check the condition of the plaster, complete remedial works including cracked plaster, lime plaster repair, ornate repair and repainting of areas which required the additional attention.
Working in close collaboration with Liverpool City Council, Head of Heritage, Development and Preservation and Chambers Conservation ensured that we successfully obtained requisite approvals for the materials and techniques to be used. Any areas of repainting had to be carefully colour matched to complement the original work.
Scope of Works
& Result
The ceiling has many intricate parts which are irreplaceable and during inspection fragile pieces in need of repair had to be removed and numbered to ensure that upon restoration could be precisely replaced.
The impressive height of the ceiling meant it was important that we utilised the safest way of working, while also protecting the exquisite Minton Tile floor within the hall. Working with a structural engineer, a temporary lifted floor was created to house the No.3 specialist spider cherry pickers for us to complete the work successfully and without damage.
Due to the busy City centre location, careful programming was required to organise the cherry pickers being craned to site, including working with Liverpool City Council to gain a road closure permit while minimising disruption to the public.
The hall holds a vast amount of historical architecture which had to be protected from our works, when possible, this was completed in-house, however in some instances, we sourced specialist contractors to complete specific protection and cleaning works. This Included one of England's largest organs.
The restoration was a complete success with our work being published across national media. Our workmanship should last more than another 70 years.
