Kensington Palace

For this project we were commissioned by heritage building experts Qoda to design and install a lighting system for the King’s State Apartments in Kensington Palace. This was part of Historic Royal Palaces’ £12m refurbishment programme to mark the 300th anniversary of the Hanoverian accession to the English throne.

The brief was to devise a bespoke, invisible lighting system for a grand staircase and a suite of five rooms, while ensuring not to damage the ornate ceilings or the precious paintings and tapestries on display. This lighting should be easily programmed with a laptop and adjust light levels according to time of day. Control panels should be placed in a “secret” corridor and out of sight in original 18th-century cupboards. Finally, no modern fixtures should be seen by visitors.

Our expert technicians are no strangers to working inside listed and historic buildings. They created a dynamic but unobtrusive lighting system using switch-free lighting circuits, circuits disguised as picture rails, lights hidden in original 18th-century décor, and hidden control panels.

As a result, the newly lit rooms have gained a new level of vibrancy, and the number of visitors has increased. The system was entirely sensitive to the age and styling of these spaces. The entire project was cost-effective and delivered on time, and Chris Lewis Group engineers are providing ongoing support as and when needed.