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Grand Kremlin Palace
The Grand Kremlin Palace is part of the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. The Moscow Kremlin is one of the largest fortresses remained in the territory of Europe. It is the main political, social, spiritual, religious, historical and artistic complex of the Russian Federation. The Grand Kremlin Palace was built in the middle of the 19th century under the managment of Konstantin Thon at the behest of the Emperor Nicholas I.
Currently the palace is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Important federal ceremonies are held there. Georgievsky Hall is one of the biggest halls in the palace. The hall was named for the order of St. George - one of the highest and respected military decoration. The decor of the Georgievsky Hall is devoted to the victories of the Russian army.
Performed work
2017: Georgievsky Hall (1200 sqm);
2014: Apartments (283 sqm);
2011: Restoration. Chevalier hall (145 sqm);
2009: Restoration. Residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (300 sqm);
2009: Imperial family's private chambers (228 sqm);
2005: Special area (595 sqm).
Georgievsky Hall
The rich parquet flooring of Georgievsky Hall is a real value of the Grand Kremlin Palace. Colourful designed parquet flooring is made of more than 20 different wood species. Total area of parquet flooring is 1200 sqm. Parquet flooring has been preserved in its original appearnce since the moment of the halls' building.
During 150 years of its existence flooring in Georgievsky Hall has been scientifically restored many times. Scientific restoration suggests preserving the original design and colour.
The latest restoration works were completed in 1997-1999. Heavily worn out parquet elements were partially substituted with the new ones. The whole parquet surface was sanded.
The Italian specialists restored the parquet flooring in strict adherence to the drawings and sketches of the Tsarist era. Sketches of separate elements of the parquet flooring were made in full scale. The parquet flooring is unsymmetrical because it was made by hand.
One of the most difficult tasks during the restoration of historical parquet flooring is the selection of wood species. It is not allowed to use staining during restoration. It is well-known that each wood resists to the sunlight in its own way. Stained wood will resist longer.
The Italian specialists determined that for complete identity of parquet flooring 23 wood species would be necessary. According to archive records the wood was delivered from all over the world. "The so-called traditional wood species such as oak, beech, ash, walnut were used along with such rare wood as Indian rosewood, African padouk, sycamore", said Sergey Devyatov, official representative of the Federal Protective Service.
Our company has been involved in the scientific restoration of the Georgievsky Hall for a year already. At present some elements of parquet flooring differ from each other in colour as a result of repeated repair works. It is very easy to distinguish now the planks that have been substituted. The flooring has a lot of cracks. The useful layer of the original parquet flooring is from 2 to 5 mm. According to Sergey Devyatov, the planks in some places are of critical thickness, 1-1.5 mm. "Currently the condition of parquet flooring is crucial. Its further preservance and due maintenance are impossible. So, it was decided to start scientific restoration and reconstruction", said Devyatov.
Parquet flooring was divided into several sectors. Sketches pointing dimensions and wood species were made for each sector. Detailed photos of parquet flooring were made. Based on these photos it was possible to point all the defects on parquet sketches (cracks, deformation, substituted planks). In the end it was clear that more than 80% of flooring cannot be locally restored.
It was decided to change parquet flooring completely reconstructing the original decor. Only small area of 10 sqm of the historical flooring is to be preserved. This area has survived better as it is situated in a low traffic zone.
Further we completed serious desiner tasks: we determined the natural wood colour and selected the wood according to archive records and photos. As is known one wood can have dozens of tones and shades in colour. Several samples of different parquet elements were produced.
During restoration it is very important to be careful when dismantling parquet flooring as historical design is to be preserved. If possible parquet flooring is dismantled in big pieces. The whole process is photoed.
Mass media about us
Reconstruction of the historical appearance of the Grand Kremlin Palace is a momentous event. The start of restoration works was widely covered by the mass media:
- Article «Georgievsky Hall is closed for restoration of parquet flooring dating back to Nicholas I » (MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/).
- News item about start of parquet work in Georgievsky Hall
- Article «Change of flooring. «Argumenty i fakty» found out why repair work had been started in Georgievsky Hall / AIF / 13/02/2019»