Case Study
British Museum Gates & Railings
The televised restoration of magnificent museum gates and mechanisms
This 10-month restoration project, featured on BBC2’s series The Museum, saw the 20 tonne iron gates at London’s British Museum completely refurbished from top to bottom by our highly skilled craftsmen
and architectural engineers
The cast iron gates were originally erected in 1852. The elaborate design is 40ft wide and consists of two pairs of main gates and two side gates creating
a magnificent entrance to the museum.
Each 5 tonne gate is beautifully designed so that the hinges are not visible when they are open creating smooth, flowing lines that add to their grandeur.
The museum initially realised the gates needed restoration in 2000 when they first seized. Dorothea was called in to ensure the future of these magnificent gates was secured for generations to come.
Before any restoration work could be started hundreds of individual components were carefully dismantled, photographed and catalogued - requiring 2000 photos and hundreds of diagrams.
This was a uniquely challenging contract, with many unknowns at the outset, strict site constraints and tight tolerances between large components.