Historical Decorative Scheme – Leeds Town Hall, Victoria Hall, and Town Hall Organ

Tender description

This project is seeking to appoint a single contractor undertaking the restoration of the historical decorative scheme in the Victoria Hall, the main performance space in Leeds Town Hall – a Grade 1 Listed building. Dating from 1858 the decorative scheme includes fine hand painted Victorian stencil designs, ornate columns, gold leafing, wood panelling, painted plasterwork, and painted designs on the large façade pipes of Leeds Town Hall Organ. Currently, these decorative features are in very poor condition and require extensive repair and restoration. The scope of work is wide-ranging and multi-disciplined with the selected contractor required to restore certain elements to the earliest possible decorative intentions, this includes the reintroduction of the hand painted Victorian stencils designs currently hidden under layers of dust, dirt and redecoration work. Access to archive material and recent paint sampling to aid restoration work will be made available to the selected contractor. This major conservation project will require work of the highest quality and craftmanship. The contractor should have extensive knowledge of decorative and ornamental arts and needs to demonstrate experience of previous, large scale, restoration work in this field. Work will commence on 21st February 2022 with a completion date of May 2023, Leeds Town Hall will be closed to the general public throughout this period. Contractors need to ensure that they can take on the works in the timeframe outlined above as these dates are unable to be moved due to other works in the Victoria Hall and wider Town Hall.