Somerset House, The Strand, London

Somerset House is one of London’s most important 18th century buildings. With the formation of the Somerset House Trust it was transformed from the Inland Revenue and Births, Deaths and Marriages records offices into a new centre for culture and arts.

The building is a six storey load bearing stone and masonry walled structure with timber floors and a timber truss roof. Two levels of basements exist with cross vaults and light wells under the enclosed courtyard.

To facilitate the new public gallery spaces and the associated restaurants and catering facilities significant reordering and rearrangement of internal walls was necessary as well as stiffening and strengthening of the timber floors.

Within the enclosed courtyard an underground services building was constructed which caters for up to 4,000 people at events. Careful temporary works were detailed to avoid any lateral movement of the adjacent buildings all of which had considerable historic settlement and distortions.

The installation of the mechanical and electrical services for the new gallery spaces and restaurants posed a significant challenge which was met with our extensive survey work of the existing fabric of the building and close co-ordination with our mechanical and electrical engineers.

In order to meet the disabled access requirements new lifts and ramps had to be incorporated in a sensitive manner into the existing building. Most notable are the curving ramps from the courtyard across the light wells into the main wing of the building.

• Ground investigation and interpretation
• Liaising with English Heritage, Surveyor of the Fabric and Westminster City Council
• Structural Engineering
• Mechanical and Electrical Services Engineering
• Archaeological assessment and watching brief