The Imperial War Museum in London reopened in time for the World War 1 centenary commemorations following a major £40 million refurbishment helped by PCE.
Round-the-clock working in 24 hour shifts by PCE’s construction team during the project contributed to a totally new look for the interior of the museum with the addition of new precast concrete galleries designed to resemble the wings of aircraft.
The existing floor of the exhibition hall was removed to create added height within the building, allowing for the concrete panels weighing up to five tonnes to be manoeuvred from the exterior by forklift before being lifted into place using a 25 tonne mobile crane, operating with clearances down to just 50mm from the existing glass atrium.
PCE’s team worked from a gantry using chains and blocks to undersling the units and attach each one to a steel framework using mechanical fixings.
The design uses a series of cheek panels and “fin” units to echo the appearance of aircraft wings, forming new exhibition “clusters” over four floors housing 400 exhibits and providing a fitting backdrop to the main display of 20th century fighter aircraft, “doodle bugs” and rockets.
