Victory Live

HMS Victory, Historic Docks, Portsmouth

Launched 248 years ago, the HMS Victory is currently undergoing a £42million renovation project to protect and restore its aging timbers for generations to come. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) have approached us to help interpret the ongoing works, on the site surrounding the large pavilion structure that covers the Victory in the dry dock.

The pavilion protects the ship during the restoration works, as well as providing a viewing deck from which to view the ship like never before. From there you can see the renovation experts and skilled trades as they work on the ships timbers. Many of the pieces date from 1765, although surprisingly there are many that date from previous restoration projects in the 1980s.

Our pitch at this stage, has developed a range of seating that takes its inspiration from the woodworking skills of maritime carpenters, resembling the grills and gates seen on all Navy warships of the time, These seats have a duel purpose - to provide seating obviously, but also to cover lightning conductors and steel brackets set into the dockside which used to connect to support cables attached to the Victory’s three large wooden masts. These have been removed during the restoration work as the pavilion covers the ship.