Central Lobby Westminster – Replacing Encaustic Tiles

The Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle officially laying the last piece of the centre roundel in Central Lobby. © UK Parliament (Jessica Taylor)

Palace of Westminster

Encaustic Replacement Project

The beautiful, Augustus Pugin designed, and Minton manufactured, encaustic pavements were an integral part of Sir Charles Barry’s redesign of the Palace of Westminster and showcase Pugin’s Gothic Revival style.

Years of heavy foot fall took its toll on the original floor tiles and in 2008 Craven Dunnill Jackfield were appointed to assist in the ambitious project of restoring the floors to their former glory. Thousands of original worn tiles have been carefully lifted by DBR London and now replaced with exact replicas, or where possible, original salvageable tiles, bringing the floors back to their former vibrant splendour.

A full year of research and development was undertaken by Liveryman Chris Cox of CDJ to create a clay and a suite of corresponding inlay slips that would be both a perfect match to the original tiles. They also had to be fit for purpose, being highly durable and resistant to continual daily use. A trial panel was laid in St Stephen’s Hall in 2010 for assessment and approval before full production could begin. Over the course of the next eleven years work continued throughout the Palace in Members’ Entrance, Public Corridor, Lower Waiting Hall, Commons Corridor, Peers’ Corridor, Map Corridor, Peers’ Lobby and Central Lobby all of which were lifted in their entirety and re-laid with new tiles. Only Royal Gallery and St Stephen’s Hall retained a small portion of original material which was deemed to be in good enough condition to be salvaged and reused.

Hundreds of plaster moulds were painstakingly hand-carved to replicate the original designs and from these, 37,500 encaustic tiles were individually pressed, filled, fettled, fired, and cut to exact sizes. In excess of 250 tons of bespoke clay and almost 7,500 litres of inlay slips in various colours were created at Jackfield before the final tile, the centre roundel in Central Lobby was laid in the spring of 2021 marking the culmination of this impressive project.

The floors throughout the Palace of Westminster once again celebrate the talents of Barry, Pugin, Minton and all those who had a skilled hand in the production of one of the finest examples of encaustic pavement to be seen.

Adrian Blundell

Liveryman

Craven Dunnill Group

Editor’s Note: Members of the Tylers and Bricklayers had the great privilege of viewing progress on the Central Lobby roundel at Jackfield during our Craft Visit in 2018, a giant jigsaw puzzle with many replacement pieces still awaiting manufacture. In last year’s Newsletter we reported the successful firing of the final encaustic centrepiece floor tile fresh out of the kiln. We have watched this prestigious project progress to completion with great interest.