Royal Garrison Church: When old meets new. Kuraray interlayer protects historic artifacts from damaging UV radiation.

Photo: © Daedalusconservation

Modern interlayer technology helps protect the church’s interior from the harmful effects of UV radiation and the environmental extremes of its coastal location. The multi-panel screen wall separates the roofless nave from the chancel. Photo: © Daedalusconservation

We normally hear about modern interlayers enabling incredible contemporary feats of architecture and engineering, but special formulations can play an essential role in historic building too.

PORTSMOUTH, UK The Royal Garrison Church in Portsmouth, UK has had played a varied role throughout its 800-year history; as a medieval hospital, a Tudor ammunition store and eventually, in its current guise, as a church for the armed forces since the 1580s.

Bringing it up to date, in a recent refurbishment, modern interlayer technology has been deployed to help protect the historical artifacts and elements of the church’s interior from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation and the environmental extremes of its coastal location.

This is not the first refurbishment. In the 19th century, a ten-year repair programme was undertaken, which saw a new south porch and vestry, new flooring, and specially designed furnishings and memorial windows. Completed by 1871, the church gained a new lease of life.

The church came into the care of the Office of Works in 1933. In January 1941 the church was severely damaged by incendiary bombs dropped during German raids on Portsmouth. The roof and most of the fixtures and fittings within the nave were lost, as were all the stained-glass windows throughout the building installed in the 1860s. The existing partition in the chancel arch is of reinforced concrete and glass and was introduced in 1967-8, replacing a temporary wall established during wartime. The nave remains roofless but the aisles and the chancel are roofed. The materials used in the chancel screen and the weathering experienced due to the coastal location contributed to its deterioration and English Heritage, which has been responsible for the care of the Royal Garrison Church since 1983, sought a new design, suitable for both the Royal Church and its environment.

Designed by architects Caroe & Partners and fabricated by Bassett and Findley, the new screen wall engineering, fabrication and installation was handed to Daedalus Conservation, a historic building specialist, with an impressive list of high-profile projects across the UK.

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