Structural Interventions At Kensington Palace

Ab s t r a c t In March 2012 Kensington Palace one of the most important historic building in the history of the British monarchy was reopened to the public by Queen Elisabeth II. Between 2010 and 2012 the palace has undergone a £12m redevelopment. Kensington Palace is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building that has been a royal residence since the end of 17th century and holds rooms of special historic interest. However, over previous decades the palace attracted few visitors considering its location and significance. Therefore the main objective was to make it as accessible as reasonably possible for the broader public. The main difficulty in undertaking this task was associated with the requirement of preserving historic fabric whilst upgrading functionality and programme to meet modern standards. This necessitated alteration of selected areas, installation of passenger lift and requirement to address concurrent legislation. The aim of the paper is to analyse the proposed scheme in light of technical requirements relating to access to and use of buildings. In assistance the original documents submitted for planning permission by John Simpson Architects, Historic Royal Palaces’ annual reviews formed the base of this paper. The regeneration scheme proved to be successful as after completion HRP noted significant increase in visitors’ numbers. As a result this project is an interesting insight of design criteria on how to balance potential impact on historic fabric.