[2] Design for the ground floor of a new Parliament House

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other architects add, for example, Sir Robert Taylor (Bank of England), Sir William Chambers (Office of Works) etcetera
- William Kent (c.1685-1748): Westminster, London: designs for a new Parliament House, 1733-c.1748 (37)
  - The 'Pantheon' Schemes, 1732-33 (9)

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Reference number

SM 36/2/9

Purpose

[2] Design for the ground floor of a new Parliament House

Aspect

Ground floor plan

Scale

bar scale of 5/9 inch to 10 feet

Signed and dated

1733

Medium and dimensions

Pen on laid paper with one fold mark (491 x 735)

Hand

William Kent (1685 - 1748)

Watermark

fleur-de-lis within crowned cartouche / 4 = IV

Notes

The building is essentially rectangluar, measuring 444 feet by 240 feet at its greatest extents. The building has six points of access: one from the river front; one beneath the House of Lords; one beneath the House of Commons; and three from Old Palace Yard, the central of which is a foot entrance and the outer two carriage entrances. Two oval spiral staircases at the centre of the plan provide access to the piano nobile, as do the two grand staircases adjacent to the carriage entrances and the spiral staircases (for servants) nearby.

Salmon draws an association between this drawing with a plan of the first floor (V&A 3518.1; Salmon, fig. 13.21) and an elevation (V&A 3518.10; Salmon, fig. 13.20), although he does acknowledge the differences between the plan and elevation designs.

(Salmon, pp. 332-34)

Level

Drawing

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