Sunlight is destroying priceless specimens
This article was created by The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). It originally appeared in the IHBC NewsBlogs.
On 27 July 2016, The Telegraph reported a case of building restoration where the cleaning of the dilapidated glass roof of Oxford’s Natural History Museum, as part of its £2m restoration, let in so much sunlight that the museum’s priceless specimens suffered ‘rapid and irreversible’ damage.
The Telegraph wrote:
When Oxford University unveiled the results of a £2 million project to restore the dilapidated glass roof of the city’s Natural History Museum, the curators claimed they had secured the future of the magnificent Victorian institution for generations to come.
But now university authorities have been forced back to the drawing board, after admitting that removing 150 years of dirt from the glass tiles that line the building’s roof has let in so much sunlight that the museum’s priceless specimens are suffering ‘rapid and irreversible’ damage.
See the full story
See Alison Richmond’s, ICON CEO response
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[edit] External References
IHBC NewsBlogs - see: http://ihbconline.co.uk/newsachive/?p=13437
Daily Telegraph - see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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