Taking centre stage is the geometric tiled floor, complete with intricate border, which is an authentic replica of the original Victorian floor, it has been re-created by Craven Dunnill Jackfield, the specialist tile manufacturer based in Shropshire.
The Gallery was designed by architectural historian James Ferguson and purpose-built to house the work of botanical artist Marianne North, who donated her unique collection of plant paintings to RGB (Kew) in 1882.
When first approached by Bob Howard at Wilson & Wylie Contracts, the flooring contractors, there was little more than an old photograph plus one or two original tiles to suggest how the floor originally looked when it was first laid.
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"I contacted Jackfield as I knew we needed to work with a company which would buy into the entire project, including producing scaled working drawings," Bob explains. Craven Dunnill Jackfield became an important member of the team from the outset, working closely with the Architects Donald Insall Associates, main contractor Concentra, and Wilson & Wylie the flooring contractor.
The Marianne North Gallery is approximately 14.5m long by 6.5m wide. Each square metre is made up of 200 individual tiles: octagons, hexagons, pentagons, squares, triangles, parallelograms and oblong slips. Precision in manufacture and then in laying the floor was of paramount importance, in order to ensure the design would fit and sit centrally in the room.
Jonathan Farley, Senior Conservator at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew said: "Restoring and conserving the Marianne North Gallery has been one of highlights of Kew's 250th anniversary year.
"One of the most striking changes which visitors will notice is the historic tiled floor. The complex design was masterfully reconstructed by the team from Craven Dunnill Jackfield from a hazy photo and a few tiles, and its restoration has transformed the Gallery. It is a delight to finally walk into the Gallery and see it as Marianne North would have done over 100 years ago."
(GK)
