OPENING DOORS
Architectural historian, Lucy Denton, has been caught up with the problems of improving access for all to historic buildings open to visitors. “We have 18 different floor levels in the Stationers’ Hall”, declares Giles Fagan, Clerk of this esteemed livery company in the City of London which has been housed on the same site next to the submerged remains of the Roman west wall, a short distance from St Paul’s Cathedral, since the 17th century. What is an exquisite, but complex building, designated both Grade I Listed and Scheduled Monument status, was swiftly reconstructed post-Great Fire, partly rehabilitated following bomb damage sustained during the Blitz, and added to and changed in the interim. As a result, its layout is labyrinthine, and its ancient fabric precious – and alterations require careful consideration while it currently undergoes building works to install a disabled lift. “It has been a big challenge”, confirms Fagan, “and we had to think about commercial factors, as well as planning and the parameters of historic building consents”. ACCESSING ALL OF BENINGBOROUGH HALL, YORKSHIRE
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