Charleston Regained

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Charleston’s old heating system was carefully removed. The house was completely rewired and a new, electrically fuelled environmental management system installed. The new cast-iron radiators look exactly the same as the old ones but they are controlled by computer to manage the relative humidity (moisture level in the air) in each of the rooms independently. High levels of relative humidity can lead to mould growth and rot. They encourage insects such as deathwatch beetle, woodworm and silverfish which damage the collection. If the relative humidity is too low it can cause the collection to shrink, crack and flake. The new environmental management system will help to preserve Charleston’s collection by maintaining a constant level of relative humidity. New ultraviolet filters applied to Charleston’s windows will also protect the collection from the most damaging effects of daylight.

Picture captions from left to right

1. Installing the new environmental management system in the Library.
2. Removing an old radiator in Vanessa Bell’s Studio.
3. Checking the relative humidity monitors.
4. A junction box.
5. Fitting new ultraviolet filters to the windows in the Vanessa Bell’s Bedroom.
6. Checking the relative humidity in all of the rooms from the curator’s computer.

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