The Beaney in Canterbury is an art museum and library situated in the heart of the historic city of Canterbury
Following a £14 million restoration project (£7 million of which was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund) the revitalised Beaney re-opened its doors to the public in September 2012.
This fabulous facility will provide state-of-the-art exhibition galleries, a brand new and extended library, excellent educational facilities and a varied programme of interactive events for all ages. The building takes its name from its benefactor, Dr James George Beaney, who died in 1891 and left money in his will to the city of Canterbury.
The city council had the Beaney Institute (as it was formerly known in place of The Beaney in Canterbury) designed and built using this funding along with some of its own resources. The architect was A.H.Campbell and the building was officially opened on 11 September 1899. As part of this extensive refurbishment Ampfab were approached to provide a bespoke solution to the art storage requirements of the Beaney collection.
The most unusual feature of this art storage design and installation at the Beaney in Canterbury was that the system threatened to intrude on a large window which provided the only natural light into the room and Ampfab were asked to design a system that fulfilled the storage requirement but in doing so did not impinge on the natural influx of light from this large attractive window. The solution was a specially designed mainframe that featured a bespoke cantilever design that allowed the picture frames to extend fully whilst retaining a clear view of the window thus fulfilling the storage brief entirely.
