Old Sessions House

The Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell was once the biggest courthouse in London. It was built in the 18th century and recently closed for 90 years. We had been tasked with manufacturing chandeliers for all of its premises as a part of the rejuvenation of the whole building.

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Building with a Rich History

The Old Sessions House was used as a courthouse from 1782 until 1920. It was originally designed by Thomas Rogers and consisted of two large courtrooms, dungeons for holding prisoners, and a space for accommodating the resident judges. Since 1920 till 1970s, it was used for various purposes until fully falling into disrepair.

 
 
 

Era of Rejuvenation

In 2015 the building was bought by Sätila Studios with the vision of rejuvenating the building. Many of its historic features have been carefully preserved and the choice of chandeliers for such a historic building was carefully considered. 

 
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Selection of the Chandeliers

We worked together with the client to come up with chandeliers that would reflect the rich history of the building and fit perfectly within the concept of the refurbished Old Sessions House.

In the end, we were tasked with manufacturing two large chandeliers in the dimensions of 163x239 cm for the two main courtrooms, a 110x150 cm chandelier for the staircase area, and nearly a hundred of our other chandeliers and wall sconces located throughout the whole building. 

The assignment for one of the main chandeliers was to create an exact replica of a chandelier by Parker and Perry from the 19th century.

 

Burberry Fashion Show 2017

The first introduction of the newly reconstructed Old Sessions House and the Wranovsky chandeliers happened as a part of Burberry's London Fashion Week Show, presenting its new Fall 2017 Ready-to-Wear Collection from Christopher Bailey. Our crystal chandeliers adorned the show in the presence of popular supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss or Cara Delevingne.

 

Going Forward

After the Burberry’s show, the building is being used as a pompous office space for Ennismore company, and also features a restaurant & café in the lower floor of the building.

 

Further Reading & Watching

If you're interested to know more about the Old Sessions House past and presence, or the Burberry fashion show that took place in the Old Sessions House with our chandeliers, below you will find some recommended reading for you.

 

 
HeritageJiri WranovskyUnited Kingdom