Full Circle: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral: History and Conservation

Fascinating online lecture from the Churches Conservation Trust discussing the conservation project for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

I spent a year living in Liverpool and loved the quirkiness of the Catholic Cathedral or Paddy’s Wigwam as it is affectionately known, and was aware that it had structural issues.  Jon Wright of Purcell Architects who have done the conservation survey and work on the lantern, took us through the history of the cathedral and the different proposed designs.

However most interestingly he talked about how he tackled the issue of the leaks from the lantern onto the sanctuary below. After an extensive survey of the lantern and an analysis of previous conservation work, they determined that it was caused by small capillary holes in the resin holding the glass panels together. This would have been impossible to rectify without dismantling the whole lantern plus it was decided that the resign was an integral part of the lantern as an art work rather than a structure. Instead they have put in internal gutter to filter the water which appears back to the outside world.

I loved their quote at the end that they decided “not to solve the problem but to find a solution to the problem”. What a clever and enlightened approach 

 

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