ABSTRACT
The House of Lords was completed and occupied by April 1847, only nine months after Charles Barry was granted sole responsibility for completing the ventilation system. Despite David Boswell Reid’s departure, he retained a central air supply. Although he adopted a different approach to warming and ventilation than Reid, Barry reutilised most of the physical infrastructure established by him over the previous four years. In Barry’s scheme the fresh air was supplied and extracted almost entirely through the ceiling, with supplementary outlets provided at mid-level and floor level. The temperature of the supply air itself introduced through the ceiling was to be kept relatively low at a temperature of between 61ºF and 62ºF. The House of Lords was completed and occupied in April 1847, but Barry’s office was responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operation for the following five years. Barry appointed staff to act as facilities managers, who managed the ventilation, artificial lighting and climate control, on his behalf.
