Staff saved arts venue from ‘Notre Dame disaster’
London’s Somerset House narrowly avoided “complete disaster” on the scale of the Notre Dame blaze when it caught fire last week, its director has said.
About 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines attended the fire at the arts venue on the Strand on 17 August, which damaged the roof and part of the complex’s west wing.
Jonathan Reekie, director of Somerset House Trust, said it was thanks to “really quick-thinking staff” and the “amazing” response of London Fire Brigade that the fire was quickly put out.
No-one was injured and the venue has begun a “phased reopening” this weekend.
Somerset House hosted fashion exhibition The Lore of Loverboy and open-air voguing show The Mighty Crown Ball on Saturday.
Mr Reekie warned reconstruction work could take years, but was grateful the damage had not been worse.
“I think I can say that if that fire hadn’t been spotted and tackled as quickly as it was by the extraordinary emergency services, this could have been a complete disaster,” he said.
“Very luckily, it didn’t become a kind of Notre Dame or Glasgow School of Art.”
A fire engulfed the historic cathedral in Paris in 2019, toppling its spire and destroying most of its roof, while blazes badly damaged the Scottish art school’s Mackintosh Building in 2014 and 2018.
London Fire Brigade is investigating the cause of the fire at Somerset House.
What is Somerset House?
Queen Elizabeth I is among the former stately home’s previous residents, having lived there from the age of 20 before she became queen in 1558, according to Somerset House’s website.
Priceless artwork held in the site’s Courtauld Gallery, including works by Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne, was “unaffected” by the blaze and it is due to reopen to the public on Sunday.
Mr Reekie added most of the venue’s facilities and events would resume as normal within “a few more days” but reconstruction would take much longer.
“We focused on how to get the building back on its feet, how to get people back into the building,” he said.
“I think in terms of the majority of what we do, we’re talking about a few more days.
“Of course the reconstruction will be months, if not years.”
The building is used as an arts and events venue and is also home to a number of artists, makers and creative businesses who use the complex’s workspaces and studios.
