Chatsworth House, Derbyshire
6th January '08
Chelsea Lighting Design has been responsible for a number of specialist lighting projects in the ' Palace of the Peak' over a number of years.
Chatsworth House, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire is a magnificent country house set in the Derbyshire countryside on the banks of the River Derwent and has been selected as the UK's favourite country house on several occasions.
We have been associated with the improvements in the lighting of various collections within the house, including the magnificent gold and silver collections and a number of display cases containing porcelain and artefacts.
Problems were being experienced with the existing display lighting because of a constant need to open cabinets to change lamps, with the associated risk of damage to the contents and the long-term effect of heat on the antique cabinets themselves. In some cases the glazing had cracked.
The aim was to design a lighting system that overcame the maintenance difficulties, was cool in operation and improved the lighting performance, all within the context of working within valuable antique cabinets.
A purpose made fibre optic installation provided the solution with lightsources mounted out of sight on top of the cabinets. By chance we discovered that there was an in-house engineer, a former Rolls Royce employee and we suggested that much of the precision engineering could be carried out on site, thereby reducing costs and creating local participation and control.
Accurate information was recorded on site and detailed drawings prepared by Chelsea Lighting Design to enable a planned installation with minimum disruption.
The result is a greatly improved lighting quality, with no heat and no need to open cabinets for maintenance.
www.chatsworth.org
