Chandeliers are reused at Leeds Town Hall

THE CHANDELIERS at Leeds Town Hall have been reconditioned and upgraded instead of being replaced in a recent refurbishment of the Victorian interior.

The seven luminaires aren’t original. In fact, they have hung in the hall only since the 1960s. But the council and its contractor NPS Leeds was keen to reuse the lights as much as possible.

The chandeliers were first dismantled and the internal and external frames cleaned and refinished.

While this work was in progress, both the bespoke LED modules and the specially fabricated chassis to hold them and their control gear were designed and manufactured by Kemps Architectural Lighting.

These were designed to ensure sufficient and homogenous illumination of the completed chandeliers. Once the chassis and the replacement diffuser panels were manufactured, the company began re-assembling the chandeliers ready to be installed in line with the project timescale.

Leeds Town Hall was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick.  Imagined as a municipal palace to demonstrate the power and success of Victorian Leeds, and opened by Queen Victoria in a lavish ceremony in 1858, it is one of the largest town halls in the UK.

The hall, which is over 10 metres high, is used for all sorts of events from concerts to formal meetings. The project team took the view that it was important to be able to set the right scenes appropriate to the event and the refurbished chandeliers should be able achieve this.

Mark Kemp, managing director of Kemps Architectural Lighting, commented: ‘The restored chandeliers have created an environment of real class, with the intense colours contrasting against the historic, ornate ceilings and walls.

‘The effort from our team has been fantastic from start to finish and they should feel very proud of their contribution to this once in a lifetime project.’