Derry Guildhall has recently reopened following a multi-million pound refurbishment project, which included bespoke lighting specialist Dernier & Hamlyn removing the chandeliers from the Great Hall to its factory for extensive restoration work. This complex project required Dernier & Hamlyn to:
• Produce new patterns and moulds to enable missing components to be manufactured
• Produce custom made new glass shades
• Refinish metalwork by hand in bronze
• Add additional lights to some of the main chandeliers
• Fit energy efficient lamps
Bronagh Lynch at architects Consarc Design Group who was project director for the Derry Guildhall refurbishment comments:
“We have worked with Dernier & Hamlyn before at projects including Belfast City Hall and Ulster Hall. We knew that they would be capable of the high quality, painstaking work that was required at the Guildhall and, as ever, they delivered exactly what we needed.”
Norman McKnight, NMK Engineering, Dernier & Hamlyn’s agent in Ireland said: “We had to ensure that restoring the beauty of the lighting in the Great Hall was combined with updating the lamps to reduce energy consumption. In partnership with Dernier & Hamlyn we were able to meet both objectives to the immense satisfaction of the project director and the client Derry City Council.”
The lighting project was part of the wider £9.5million restoration of Derry’s Guildhall, in which contractors carried out essential maintenance and restoration both to the external and internal structure of the building. The work was funded by Derry City Council, and partners Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), Department for Social Development (DSD) and Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
