Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall
Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall
Kneller Hall served as the home of the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) and Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM) for almost 170 years.
We provided conservation and structural engineering advice to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the London Borough of Richmond, who sought to provide a masterplan for redevelopment of this operational military site as part of the Ministry of Defence’s wider estate rationalisation, which has allowed the Armed Forces to review its national estate footprint and ensure it remains fit for purpose.
We advised the proposals through several phases, beginning with a historic assessment of the Grade II listed, nineteenth-century building. The complex building consists of four-storeys of often reworked and sub-divided spaces built on the partially surviving remains of earlier halls. This assessment was completed alongside a structural analysis which allowed architectural design partners to produce plans to convert the building in a way appropriate to its identified significance.
The practical assessment was carried out whilst the building maintained its fully operational status as a military site and training facility. Furthermore, this work complemented our concurrent work producing a masterplan for the wider development of Kneller Hall, requiring discretion and sensitivity around the potentially controversial relocation of the military presence on site.
Kneller Hall finally closed in August 2021.
Client: Defence Infrastructure Organisation/London Borough of Richmond