Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery Reopens to the Public after Four Year Restoration

Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery has reopened to the public following a £12M, four-year long restoration funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Ealing Council and the Arts Council. Artelia’s cost management team, led by Simon Cash, has been with the project every step of the way.

Pitzhanger is historically important because, along with Lincoln’s Inn Fields, just round the corner from Artelia’s Holborn office, it was where influential architect, Sir John Soame lived during the early 1800s. It is one of the few surviving buildings that showcases his magnificent work.

The complex restoration involved removing Victorian and Edwardian extensions and reinstating key features such as the conservatory where Soane displayed his antique statues and urns, an original colonnade and a magnificent skylight at the top of the house. The restored interior decoration features amazing painted marbling effects; recreated Chinese floral wallpaper and a myriad of colours.

The public library, which had taken the place of the kitchen block, has also been converted into an art gallery, lit by three circular skylights. As part of the opening celebrations, the gallery is hosting an exhibition by Anish Kapoor echoing Soane’s complex use of mirrors and light to double and dissolve space.