PARLIAMENT RESTORATION TEAM VISITS PUGIN’S HOME FOLLOWING MEETING WITH LOCAL COMPANIES

A GROUP OF A DOZEN leading businesses and representatives from across the South East attended a supplier event at Ashford in Kent on 27 April to meet the team delivering Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal (R&R) programme and discuss how the complex work can support jobs and opportunities across the region.

Local experts in everything from architecture to further education attended the event to share their skills and experience and to hear from the R&R team about the approach to getting local businesses involved in the major project to restore the Palace of Westminster.

Andy Haynes, commercial director of the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority, said: “We’re travelling around the country to make sure that small businesses across the nation are aware of future opportunities from the works to restore and renew the Houses of Parliament.”

Following the business event, experts from

R&R examined restoration work at Dover Town Hall and visited the National Pugin Centre in Ramsgate, South Thanet, where Augustus Pugin, the palace’s interior designer, lived and worked from 1844-52.

Augustus Pugin was one of the most important designers and architects of the 19th century and from 1846 he worked with architect Charles Barry to produce thousands of detailed designs for the new Palace of Westminster.

Andy Haynes added: “Kent has a special connection to the Palace of Westminster as the designer of the interior of the building – Augustus Pugin – lived in Ramsgate, so it’s great to involve a new generation of local people and businesses involved in this important project to restore the building for future generations.”

The Palace of Westminster is enormous and complex: the size of 16 football pitches, with the whole building sharing the same water, electric, sewage and gas system. Many of the services are more than 50 years old and have reached the end of their lifespan. Hundreds of miles of pipes and cables need replacing.

The scale of the challenge means more extensive restoration and renewal is needed as part of the overall plan for the Parliamentary buildings. Currently there are dozens of major projects underway to repair and restore key Parliamentary buildings by teams with which the Restoration and Renewal programme will work closely to learn from and build the lessons into the overall restoration plans for the Palace.

The volume and future scope of the main restoration works are not yet certain until approval is given by Members of both Houses to costed proposals, and in advance of this Members will be asked to vote on the way forward by the end of 2023. q