London: When Oxford University unveiled the results of a £2 million (Dh9.6 million) project to restore the dilapidated glass roof of the city’s Natural History Museum, the curators claimed they had secured the future of the magnificent Victorian institution for generations to come.
But now university authorities have been forced back to the drawing board, after admitting that removing 150 years of dirt from the glass tiles that line the building’s roof has let in so much sunlight that the museum’s priceless specimens are suffering “rapid and irreversible” damage.
Planning documents lodged with the local council show that the roof works, which were completed barely two years ago, have led to 40 degrees Celsius temperatures, low humidity and high levels of ultraviolet light. Pictures submitted by the museum show how the skins of stuffed animals have cracked and faded, while curators have warned that a set of important whale skeletons could be ruined.
The documents state: “The extreme light and UV levels are also causing rapid and irreversible damage to specimens, in short, they are being destroyed.”
At the time of the renovation work, engineers decided to remove a solar reflective film covering from the leaking roof tiles, as it had become discoloured and did not fit with the Grade I listed status of the building, which was completed in 1860.
Instead, protective film coating was attached to individual cases of the various exhibits. But a combination of the removal of more than a century of dirt, and the absence of UV protection across the roof, has led to such a large increase in sunlight that temperatures have soared, and humidity has plummeted.
Now Historic England is backing a move by the university to apply a new, gold-coloured UV film to the roof, while acknowledging that doing so will damage the building’s external appearance.
The heritage body said in a letter to the council: “We think the public benefit of allowing the museum to continue to function properly decisively outweighs the harm entailed by this proposal.”
Embarrassingly, the university has admitted that it will be unable to apply the film to a large area of the roof, as it is unwilling to pay for scaffolding over the cavernous structure. It also admitted that installing the UV film will only lead to a one degree Celsius drop in temperatures, which have peaked at 44C, posing a “significant health and safety risk” to young children and elderly visitors.
Instead, it is drawing up separate plans to install a new air conditioning system. In a statement, Oxford University said: “Since the museum reopened in 2014 we have monitored UV and heat levels closely, and after careful consideration of the potential impact on the few exhibits that are not in cases — including whale skeletons and organic taxidermy exhibits — we have applied for listed building consent to install a solar protective film to the roof.
“This will reduce the incoming UV radiation by approximately 99.9 per cent, adding further protection to the museum’s exhibits, none of which have thus far suffered any major deterioration but which are at risk over the longer term. The planned work should also provide a more comfortable experience for our visitors during the summer.”
