Whitesales has replaced the original timber rooflights in the Grade II* listed Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery with new bespoke aluminium rooflights, ready for the reopening of museum during 2024.

Built in 1885, the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has long housed treasures from the likes of Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and has an unrivalled 2,000 piece Pre-Raphaelite collection. However, it closed in November 2022 for essential maintenance which has included electrical work, upgrading of the heating, lift replacement and roof repairs.

The new rooflights were a key element in the roof repairs, so the challenge for Whitesales was to supply and install high performance, energy efficient replacements for the timber originals which satisfied the constraints of the Grade II* listing and met the requirements of the City Council’s conservation office. The solution they developed included one bespoke Whitesales Monopitch 2610mm x 1260mm rooflight with vertical front face and sides set at 350mm and two bespoke lantern rooflights with sides set at 440mm and 450mm, all finished in an anthracite grey on the exterior and white on the interior and all CWCT TN92 Class 2 non-fragile to ensure the safety of anyone walking on the roof.

Whitesales worked closely with contractors ISG throughout the design and specification process. They visited the site for a survey, attended design meetings and delivered a sample to the site so that everyone on the client team was happy with what was being supplied in terms of both performance and aesthetics. They also ensured that the rooflights were all  fabricated and safely delivered to site in manageable-sized elements  to take into account the fact that access in and around the city centre site was difficult.

Whitesales has a long standing relationship with ISG, based on the quality of the work carried out on previous projects. For ISG’s Trainee Construction Manager Ryan Linnecor, Whitesales impressed with their knowledge and experience on heritage schemes. He commented: “Whitesales had a clear understanding of the Grade II* listed scheme and the constraints that presented. They impressed us once again with their approach on how to undertake the work sympathetically and the finished installation is of a very high quality.”

The clients at the Museum have already commented on how the new rooflights are bringing new natural light into previously dull areas of the building, something which will be appreciated by visitors when the Museum and Gallery starts to reopen this year.