The Silver Gallery is in regular use as a reception area for the hotel ballroom two floors below and is listed grade II due to its opulent art deco design and materials; an iconic masterpiece held up by architects as an exemplar of its age.

Completed in 1927, the gallery centrepiece is its magnificent, polished nickel-silver balustrading and handrails with matching lanterns that bore the brunt of the ceiling impact damage; extending downwards over eight flights of stairs accessing first the balcony level and then the ballroom.

Topp & Co were approached by the Austin Newport Group to provide a detailed condition report and estimated costs to restore the gallery level balustrades to their former glory and were subsequently instructed to carry out the necessary repairs and reconstruction.

The gallery level balustrades and lanterns, made up of over 650 separate cast and fabricated pieces of solid nickel-silver, held together with in excess of 2600 minute nickel-silver machine screws, had to be completely dismantled, components repaired or replaced as necessary, deep-cleaned, polished and rebuilt ready for installation after the structural rework and fabric restoration to the gallery was complete.

Part way through the project, with the 14th February 2020 project completion deadline rapidly approaching, Topp & Co were instructed to remove, refurbish, deep clean and polish the remaining six flights of balustrading from the lower levels to create a seamless effect to the major restoration works.
All works were completed on time and on budget to the satisfaction of the client and the hotel.

For those that are interested, please click this link to the Austin Newport short film on the restoration of the Silver Gallery at the Sheraton. then select ‘Sheraton’ at the bottom of the page.

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