Work in Number 12 - The Lift
One of the most complex areas of work in Number 12 was the preparation for the installation of an internal lift, overseen by Julian Harrap Architects. Although a lift shaft had been installed in the building in 1969 when the Museum took back the house for its own use, no lift had ever been in place. Indeed, the floors had been reinstalled in the 1990s to provide much needed floor space for the Museum, and the shaft had been colonised with service pipes and cables, all of which needed to be removed and integrated with the rest of the House. Project architects Caroline Wilson and Lyall Thow devised an ingenious solution, creating a lift that can open on three sides across four floors, and which remains hidden behind original doors on all floors, reducing intrusion into the fabric of the building. In the breakfast room, the false bookcase added in 1994-5 was modified to act as a doorway. In conjunction with the platform lift installed outside, the Museum is now greatly more accessible than it has ever been before.
